Mycobacterium tuberculosis retains viability in RNAlater buffer but not in GTC-TCEP and DNA/RNA Shield

L Krausser; S M Braet; Z Benaamar; M Van Dyck-Lippens; B C de Jong; L Rigouts

doi:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2023.115905

Mycobacterium tuberculosis retains viability in RNAlater buffer but not in GTC-TCEP and DNA/RNA Shield

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2023 May;106(1):115905. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2023.115905. Epub 2023 Feb 1.

Authors

L Krausser¹, S M Braet², Z Benaamar³, M Van Dyck-Lippens³, B C de Jong³, L Rigouts⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: lkrausser@ext.itg.be.
² Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium.
³ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium.

PMID: 36905764
DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2023.115905

Abstract

Efficient inactivation of clinical samples containing mycobacteria is crucial for biosafety during shipment and handling. When stored in RNAlater, Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra remains viable, and our results suggest that at -20 °C and 4 °C changes in the mycobacterial transcriptome are possible. Only GTC-TCEP and DNA/RNA Shield inactivate sufficiently for shipment.

Keywords: Biosafety; Mycobacteria; RNA stabilization; RNAlater; Tuberculosis.

MeSH terms

DNA
Humans
Mycobacterium tuberculosis* / genetics
RNA

Substances

RNA
tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine
DNA