Sensing the bactericidal and bacteriostatic antimicrobial mode of action using Raman-Deuterium stable isotope probing (DSIP)

The mode of actions of antibiotics can be broadly classified as bacteriostatic and bactericidal. The bacteriostatic mode leads to the arrested growth of the cells while the bactericidal mode causes cell death. In this work, we report the applicability of Deuterium stable isotope probing (DSIP) in combination with Raman spectroscopy (Raman DSIP) for discrimination among antibiotics on the basis of their mode of action at community level. We optimized the concentration of deuterium oxide required for metabolic activity monitoring without compromising the microbial growth. We also identified a novel carbon-deuterium Raman metabolic qualitative spectral marker in the biofingerprint region. This can be used for early identification of the antibiotic’s mode of action. Our results explores the new perspective which supports the utility of Deuterium based vibrational tags in the field of clinical spectroscopy. Understanding the antibiotic’s mode of action on bacterial cells in a short and objective manner can significantly enhance the clinical management abilities of infectious diseases and may also help in personalised antimicrobial therapy. Abstract Figure