Extracting low concentrations of bacteria from a sample

Abstract

The invention generally relates to conducting an assay on a sample that isolates a bacterium from the sample, in which the assay isolates as low as about 1 CFU/ml of bacteria in the sample.

1 . A method for isolating bacterium from a sample, the method comprising the steps of:
 obtaining a sample comprising a bacterium;   conducting an assay on the sample that isolates the bacterium from the sample, wherein the assay isolates as low as about 1 CFU/ml of bacteria in the sample.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the sample is a human tissue or body fluid. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the body fluid is blood. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the bacterium is a blood borne bacterium. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the sample is a food sample. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the bacterium is a food borne bacterium. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising characterizing the bacterium. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein characterizing comprises identifying the bacterium. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein identifying is selected from sequencing nucleic acid derived from the bacterium or amplifying nucleic acid derived from the bacterium. 
     
     
         10 - 11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . A method for isolating bacterium from a sample, the method comprising the steps of:
 obtaining a sample comprising a bacterium;   conducting an assay using magnetic particles in order to isolate the bacterium from the sample, wherein the magnetic particles are of such a size and comprise such an amount of magnetic material that the assay isolates as low as about 1 CFU/ml of bacteria in the sample.   
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the magnetic particles comprise a bacteria-specific binding moiety. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the bacteria-specific binding moiety is an antibody. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the sample is a human tissue or body fluid. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the body fluid is blood. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the bacterium is a blood borne bacterium. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the sample is a food sample. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the bacterium is a food borne bacterium. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 12 , further comprising characterizing the bacterium. 
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein characterizing comprises identifying the bacterium. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein identifying is selected from sequencing nucleic acid derived from the bacterium or amplifying nucleic acid derived from the bacterium. 
     
     
         23 - 25 . (canceled)