Marseille, January 2014, Sam Dukan and his CNRS co-workers (French National Center of Scientific Research) celebrate years of research around the latest cover of Angewandte Chemie^1&2 presenting their discovery: a rapid detection and identification method of culturable Legionella pneumophila. 

The strategy is simple yet revolutionary: it consists of the metabolic incorporation of a modified molecule (DIAMIDEX proprietary sugar pLeg-N₃) by growing cells of the bacteria. This allows the use of ‘click chemistry’ to reveal them and to count them using fluorescence.

All of this after only 48 hours of incubation, instead of 10 -14 days using the traditional culture method (ISO 11731).

Results have demonstrated great success in labelling culturable L. pneumophila only, with no dead or other bacteria being detected; see graph below:

Graph: Lp: Legionella pneumophila. Lp + number: Tested serogroup. Lnp: Legionella non pneumophila. Lnp present on the graph: L. gormanii, L. longbeachae, L. maceachernii, L. jordanis, L. tucsonensis, L. cincinnatiensis, L. bozemanii. Each symbol represents an experiment.

Again, results were astonishing when compared to the ISO 11731 standard; revealing the accuracy and reliability of the DIAMIDEX technology:

Comparison with ISO 11731 testing protocol³

Based on these results, Diamidex has been developing innovative solutions for the rapid detection of Legionella. Its latest product release: MICA Legionella; is a semi-automated assay that allows counting of all culturable serogroups of L. pneumophila.

It is able to provide results⁴ in CFU/mL or CFU/L; resolving the normalization issues between regulatory analyses and routine/emergency analyses. Thus, allowing a better Legionella risk assessment. 

MICA Legionella is designed to detect L. pneumophila in any water sample and gives a result in 48 hours, offering unmatched sensitivity and specificity among culture-based methods.

In addition to its innovation, MICA Legionella also features the following assets:

• Competitive price
• Easy to use and implement; even for non-technician (step by step protocol / ergonomic equipment)
• Integrated traceability system (Compliant 21 CFR Part 11 / individual login)
• Integrable with a risk management system, LIMS or CRM (Analysis history / Decision support / Data export / Easy comparison with regulatory CFU/mL or CFU/L lab results⁴)

For more information, please visit Diamidex​ or view product information here

¹Cover: Angewandte Chemie

²Publication: 'Identification of Living Legionella pneumophila Using Species‐Specific Metabolic Lipopolysaccharide Labeling' 

³Results obtained on 190 environmental samples, Domestic Waters & Cooling towers Waters, using MICA Legionella Solution developed by Diamidex

⁴Colonies Forming Units per millilitre / Colonies Forming Unit per litre