Experiments were performed to determine if the BacTiter-Glo™ Microbial Cell Viability Assay could be used as a rapid method to count Mycobacterium avium Complex (MAC) organisms. Using the BacTiter-Glo™ Assay, the amount of ATP measured was linear (r2 < 0.99) with respect to MAC cell number between 107 and 103 cells; the limit of detection was 104–103 cells per 100µl. Freezing cell suspensions at –80°c prior to the assay significantly increased the luminescent signal in the assay. Exposure to antimicrobial compounds azithromycin and chlorine resulted in a significant decrease in both viable cell numbers and ATP levels.
Promega Notes 98, 8–10.
Alice Yuroff1, Frank Fan2, Braeden Butler2 and Michael Collins1