A luciferase-based method for assessing chlorine-susceptibility of Mycobacterium avium.

A rapid and quantitative assay for the disinfection of the water-borne pathogen, Mycobacterium avium, was developed using firefly luciferase as a reporter gene. There was a correlation between the quantity of light produced and the number of colony-forming units. In chlorine-disinfection studies of a luciferase-carrying derivative of M. avium, there was a strong correlation (r2=0.96) between colony forming units and relative light units. It was discovered that chlorine was rapidly lost from suspensions containing 10(6) M. avium cells/ml. The luciferase-based test can be used to rapidly measure susceptibility of M. avium to different disinfectants used in water treatment.