Sequence Identification of Wound Infection with Celadon Clinical Software

Infection with Acinetobacter baumanni, especially drug-resistant strains, is a serious threat to U.S. military personnel and to the U.S. population. Identification of wound pathogens and their drug susceptibility within minutes to hours, and administration of the appropriate drug, could significantly increase soldier and patient survival. Celadon and its consultants propose to: 1) Finalize 16S rRNA primer-directed amplification; 2) Select from the literature, or develop, primers to execute the amplification strategy; 3) Apply the strategy to 80 Acinetobacter baumanni strains at different concentration levels; 4) Compare PacBio RS to the most promising desk-top instrument; 5) Demonstrate prototype extension of Celadon Clinical software to sequence identification of wound pathogens. Microbiome consultants on this project are David A. Rasko, Ph.D. and Lynne M. Schriml, Ph.D., both of the Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine. Nathan J. Edwards, Ph.D., of Georgetown Medical Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC is consulting on selection of unique sequences. Michael J. Bosse, M.D., Principal Investigator of the DoD-funded BioBurden Study, will collect wound samples. The end result will be a substantial contribution to the development of a sequence-based test will provide the clinician with the information necessary to select the most appropriate antibiotic.