MULTIPLE REAGENT AMINOPEPTIDASE PROFILING OF BACTERIA

A two-component, fluorometric procedure has been developed for aminopeptidase profiling of plant pathogens. The method utilizes the simultaneous incubation of bacteria in a combination of substrates, one tagged with β-naphthylamine and the other with 6-aminoquinoline. After incubation, emission from the resultant mixture is examined with the use of both spectral and temporal resolution. A matrix least-squares method based on concatenated decay data at two different wavelengths is suitable for separation for responses with the individual substrates in the mixture. This approach decreases the large number of solutions required for aminopeptidase profiling by a factor of two, while simultaneously minimizing interferences from the biological matrix.