Volume 11, Number 10—October 2005
Dispatch
Detecting Biological Warfare Agents
Figure A1

Figure A1. Simultaneous array detection of biological warfare agents in mixed autoclaved bacterial culture samples amplified with primer pool I (A), primer pool II (B), and wastewater samples spiked with primer pool I (C). Mixed samples were prepared by mixing Bacillus anthracis with B. thuringiensis kurstaki at 1:1, 1:5 and 1:9 ratios and Yersinia pestis with Francisella tularensis at 1:1 and 1:9 ratios. Wastewater samples were prepared by spiking individual autoclaved bacterial cultures of B. anthracis, B. thuringiensis kurstaki, Y. pestis, F. tularensis, Clostridium botulinum, and vaccinia virus at 1:10 dilution. The standard deviation (SD) of background images is 15 (n = 3), and the detection limit is 45, defined as 3 × SD.