Rapid differentiation of certain bacteria in mixed populations by gas-liquid chromatography.

Although cellular alterations occurring during infection may reflect a general response to perturbation associated with pathogenesis rather than a specific response to the virulent agent (1, 2), the biochemical changes effected in the host by a pathogen may be highly specific and detectable by ultrasensitive gas-liquid chromatographic (glc) techniques (3, 4). However, such chromatographic analyses used in identification of bacteria responsible for infections may be extremely difficult or impossible to interpret if several species are concomitantly involved in the infection. The present preliminary report addresses this problem using gas chromatographic methods for defining organisms present in a selected mixed bacterial population in vitro and in vivo.