This report describes a combined immunofluorescence and fluorescence viability stain applied as one staining solution for rapid detection of live Legionella pneumophila in mixed bacterial populations. Instead of sequential viability staining with the Invitrogen BacLight LIVE/DEAD staining kit followed by antibody-Alexa Fluor (AF) 647 conjugate staining to identify live L. pneumophila, a combined single cocktail solution staining protocol was developed to simplify and accelerate the time to detection of viable L. pneumophila serogroup-1 (SG-1) in mixed species populations on a filter membrane. The stain cocktail will aid in accelerating fluorescence microscopic analysis of cooling tower, air conditioner and water fountain or other liquid samples for the presence of L. pneumophila and its viability status. Visibly red stained cells were identified as dead non-L. pneumophila SG-1 cells, while green fluorescing cells represented viable non-L. pneumophila SG-1 cells. Due to also staining red with antibody-AF 647, L. pneumophila SG-1 cells were pseudocolorized as blue to distinguish them from other dead cells. Fluorescence color emission mixing from the viability dyes (SYTO 9 and propidium iodide) with antibody-AF 647 stained L. pneumophila led to other fluorescent colors. For example, green plus pseudocolorized blue AF 647-antibody- labeled cells were identified as live cyan-colored L. pneumophila SG-1 cells. Magenta-colored cells resulted from dead L. pneumophila cells that combined red propidium iodide with blue pseudocolorized AF 647-antibody emissions. Analysis of measured RGB (red, green, blue) color values in microscopic images of mixed bacterial populations suggests the possibility of facile automated discrimination of subpopulations of live and dead L. pneumophila and non-L. pneumophila species by computers in 3-dimensional RGB color space after staining in the combined cocktail which will save time for more rapid microscopic detection of potential sources of Legionnaire\'s disease.

Alexa Fluor 647 is a widely used fluorescent probe for cell bioimaging and super-resolution microscopy. Herein, the reversible fluorescence switching of Alexa Fluor 647 conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and adsorbed onto indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes under electrochemical potential control at the level of single protein molecules is reported. The modulation of the fluorescence as a function of potential was observed using total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. The fluorescence intensity of the Alexa Fluor 647 decreased, or reached background levels, at reducing potentials but returned to normal levels at oxidizing potentials. These electrochemically induced changes in fluorescence were sensitive to pH despite that BSA-Alexa Fluor 647 fluorescence without applied potential is insensitive to pH between values of 4-10. The observed pH dependence indicated the involvement of electron and proton transfer in the fluorescence switching mechanism.

Early diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) infection is crucial for prompt treatment and good patient outcome. However, serological tests to detect MP rapidly and conveniently are still lacking. This study aimed to use the fluorescent dye Alexa Fluor® 647 as the detection marker to develop a lateral flow immunochromatographic assay (LFIA) for detection of MP-specific IgM in serum specimen. Monoclonal mouse antibody against human IgM (μ-chain specific) and goat anti-rabbit IgG were labeled with Alexa Fluor® 647 (anti-IgM-AF647 and anti-IgG-AF647). A mixture of natural MP antigen and recombinant P1 antigen was coated as the test line (T line) and rabbit IgG was coated as the control line (C line) on a nitrocellulose (NC) membrane. The MP antigens captured IgM-anti-IgM-AF647 complex on the T line. Rabbit IgG captured anti-IgG-AF647 on the C line. The fluorescence intensity on the T line and C line was measured. Sartorius CN140 NC membrane showed higher sensitivity than CN95. The optimal reaction time for the LFIA was 10min. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve based on 34 MP positive and 166 MP negative serum samples was 0.986 (p<0.001). The cutoff value of T/C area ratio was 0.3830. The LFIA strips did not react with serum from patients infected with non-MP pathogens including influenza viruses and bacteria causing respiratory tract infection. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation were between 3.28% and 10.14%. The shelf life was calculated to be 2years at room temperature. The LFIA strips and the commercial EUROIMMUN kit showed consistent results on 372 serum specimens. The overall consistency rate was 96.37% with a Kappa value of 0.842 (p<0.001). The LFIA in the current study may be a sensitive and specific approach to detect early MP infection rapidly and conveniently.