Patent Application: US-5084702-A

Abstract:
a method for separating microorganisms , especially infectious agents , from a mixture by two dimensional centrifugation on the basis of sedimentation rate and isopycnic banding density , for sedimenting such microorganisms through zones of immobilized reagents to which they are resistant , for detecting banded particles by light scatter or fluorescence using nucleic acid specific dyes , and for recovering the banded particles in very small volumes for characterization by mass spectrometry of viral protein subunits and intact viral particles , and by fluorescence flow cytometric determination of both nucleic acid mass and the masses of fragments produced by restriction enzymes . the method is based on the discovery that individual microorganisms , such as bacterial and viral species , are each physically relatively homogeneous , and are distinguishable in their biophysical properties from other biological particles , and from non - biological particles found in nature . the method is useful for distinguishing infections , for identifying known microorganisms , and for discovering and characterizing new microorganisms . the method provides very rapid identification of microorganisms , and hence allows a rational choice of therapy for identified infectious agents . a particularly useful application is in clinical trials of new antibiotics and antivirals , where it is essential to identify at the outset individuals infected with the targeted infectious agent .

Description:
the invention is directed to methods of identifying and measuring the presence of microbial agents such as bacteria and viruses in biological samples . the methods include centrifugation steps to purify the microbial agents in a very small volume . the agents are then assayed by means such as isopycnic banding density , fluorescence or mass spectrometry . it is an object of this invention to develop integrated systems and methods in which suspensions containing microorganisms , including infectious agents , are stained with one or more fluorescent dyes , in which a step or continuous gradient is automatically formed during centrifugation , in which the microorganisms are centrifuged away from the stain - containing suspending medium and are washed free of external stain , are concentrated in a gradient of very small cross section , separated according to their isopycnic banding densities , their banding densities determined , and the microorganisms detected by fluorescence . it is a further object of this invention to concentrate microorganisms , including infectious agents , into microbands by a factor of 1 - 5 , 000 . it is a further object of this invention to expose the microorganisms , such as infectious agents , to reagents including detergents , surfactants , enzymes , or organic solvents contained in distinct zones in a density gradient to dissolve or disassemble contaminating particles to prevent them from banding with the microorganisms , and to separate stained particles from the free stain of the initial sample volume . it is a further object of this invention to use one or more dyes which bind differentially to rna , single stranded dna or double stranded dna to allow these to be distinguished by their fluorescent spectra . it is a further object of this invention to provide for the concentration of banded microorganisms , for example infectious agents , by resuspending the banding gradient , which is typically 0 . 04 ml , to approximately 4 ml in water or a very dilute buffer , and pelleting the microorganisms one or more times to provide a concentrated pellet free of gradient materials for mass spectrometric analysis , for counting by epifluorescent microscopy or by flow cytometry . it is a further object of this invention to provide means for the diagnosis of infectious diseases which minimize exposure of laboratory personnel to infectious agents . it is an additional object of this invention to provide means for preparing nucleic acids from small quantities of microorganisms , including infectious agents , to determine the masses of intact nucleic acid molecules , and for characterization of fragments produced by restriction enzymes using either flow cytometry or epifluorescence microscopy . it is an additional object of this invention to determine the banding densities of the microorganisms , such as infectious agents , accurately by reference to the positions of calibrated particles added to the gradients . for ease of description , the invention will be described with reference to viruses as the microorganisms . it will be understood that the invention is also applicable to other microorganisms , including mycoplasmas , yeast and bacteria . the invention is particularly suited for the identification of infectious agents , and will be described in this context . fig1 is a graph depicting the sedimentation coefficients and isopycnic banding densities of subcellular organelles and viruses to illustrate the concept of the “ virus window ” ( anderson , 1966 ). it is evident that viruses have a relatively narrow range of sedimentation coefficients and banding densities and may be isolated from a tissue homogenate or from blood in a high state of purity using high resolution s - ρ separation systems . for a complete description of high resolution s - ρ centrifugal methods and of centrifuge development for virus isolation , refer to national cancer institute monograph 21 , the development of zonal centrifuges and ancillary systems for tissue fractionation and analysis , u . s . department of health , education and welfare , public health service , 1966 . this work describes s - ρ separation theory and systems , and the use of colored plastic beads of graded densities as density markers . in practice , a blood sample or tissue homogenate is centrifuged to sediment all particles having sedimentation rates higher than that of the particle or particles to be analyzed . for viruses , that means particles of circa 10 , 000 s and above are discarded . the supernatant after such a separation is then used as the sample for second dimension isopycnic banding separations carried out in microbanding tubes as described here , using centrifugation conditions which will sediment and isopycnically band all known infectious particles . one picomole of virus would contain 6 . 022 × 10 11 viral particles , while 6 × 10 9 virions would contain 1 picomole of a viral coat protein present in 100 copies per virion . quantitative polymerase chain reaction ( pcr ) has been used to demonstrate that in many infectious diseases & gt ; 10 8 virus particles are present per ml of plasma or serum . hence , if the virions from a 5 - 10 ml biological sample containing 10 8 virions / ml are concentrated to a microliter or two , and then applied to a very small target area , individual viral proteins can be detected using maldi - tof - ms krishmanurthy et al ., 1996 ; holland et al ., 1966 ). using electrospray techniques , samples containing 10 6 virus particles / ml can be detected , while with flow cytometry and immobilized dna epifluorescence microscopy , even fewer particles are required ( hara et al ., 1991 ; henres and suttle 1995 ). the application of these methods to bacteria may require a preseparation of proteins to reduce the complexity of the sample . in mass spectrometry , detection has been by charged ion detection , and the limitations of such detection have set the upper limits to the size of proteins and nucleic acids that can be detected . mass spectrometric methods have now been described which allow masses of biological particles above 100 , 000 daltons to be measured . in order to work with such levels of virus , the virus must be concentrated into a very small volume . this concentration is accomplished during the second dimension of centrifugation ( the isopycnic banding step ) by banding the virus using a centrifuge tube specially designed to concentrate the virus into a microband after passage through gradient layers that wash the particles and expose them to selected reagents . an example of such a microbanding centrifuge tube is shown in fig2 a - 2c . fig2 a illustrates diagrammatically a hollow transparent centrifuge tube 1 with an upper sample volume 2 , grading into a serrated funnel region 3 having successively tapered and parallel - wall sections 4 - 6 , constricting down to a narrow tubular microbanding region 7 . the serrated funnel region 3 is an improvement over centrifuge tubes which simply taper from top to bottom without including a serrated region . by serrations is meant , for example , concentric rings or edges or lips . these rings , edges or lips are preferably continuous around the inner diameter of the centrifuge tube , but this is not required . for example , three projections from the inner wall of the centrifuge tube spaced equally around the diameter could be used to hold a disk in place . the term serrations is meant to include such possibilities but does not include a straight tapering with no rings , edges , lips or projections on the inner surface of the centrifuge tube . the serrations can be used as rests onto which disks can be placed to separate two or more layers of liquid . although disks can be placed into tubes which simply taper without serrations , the disks in such tapered tubes can be easily tipped up on one edge by pushing down on the opposing edge . this would cause a premature mixing of the layers which are to be separated by the disks . the serrated region allows disks to lie flat and prevents the disks from being accidentally tipped up . as an example , the centrifuge tube may be 3 . 45 inches from top to bottom , have an outer diameter at the top of 0 . 562 inch , and have an inner diameter in the bottom microbanding region 7 of 0 . 064 inch . such a tube is suitable for use in an sw41 ti ( beckman ) rotor . the inside surface of the tube is preferably polished using conventional techniques , including vapor polishing , so that the virus particles do not stick to the wall of the tube . additionally , the internal surfaces of the tubes may be coated with a protein or polymer to prevent particle adhesion , as is well known in the art . fig2 b illustrates how the tube is loaded at rest with a series of fluids of decreasing physical density . the tube shown comprises a series of serrations onto which can be laid disks to separate one layer of fluid from the next layer of fluid . liquid 8 is denser than any particle to be recovered , and is used to partially fill the microbanding region 7 . when a less dense fluid 9 is pipetted in with a micropipet an air bubble 10 ( wherein by air is meant atmospheric air or another gas ) may be left to keep the fluids 8 and 9 separate . similarly when the first overlay fluid 11 is introduced , air bubble 12 may be left in place , thus keeping the three liquids separate until centrifugation is commenced . a tube with an inner diameter of 0 . 064 inches in microbanding region 7 is suitable for allowing an air bubble to be left in place to separate two layers of liquid . alternatively , the air bubbles may be left out and the fluids allowed to diffuse together to create a density gradient . fluid 11 is covered with a light porous plastic disk 13 , preferably of sintered polyethylene or polypropylene , which fits in place in the first serration . a fluid 14 , less dense than fluid 11 , which may contain one or more reagents , is then introduced , and covered with disk 15 , followed by even less dense liquid 16 which is covered with disk 17 . the entire system is stable until centrifuged . before use the sample layer 18 , which has a density less than that of fluid 16 is then added up to level 19 . the tubes are then centrifuged at high speed in metal shields , typically with water or other liquid added to the shields . in addition , the tubes may be supported by fitting adapters which fill the space between the tubes and the shields , and water may be added to fill any spaces between the tubes , adapters and shields to provide additional support . optionally the tubes may be capped ( as shown in fig9 a - 9f , described in further detail below ), to minimize the chances of operator infection . fig2 c illustrates diagrammatically a tube after centrifugation . the porous separation disks 13 , 15 , and 17 have risen to the top of the tube , and sample layer 18 is cleared of virus , and the original step gradient has changed , by diffusion , into one of a series of shallow gradients . in addition , gas bubbles 10 and 12 have also moved centripetally , and fluids 8 and 9 have come into contact to form a steep gradient by diffusion . as centrifugation proceeds , the slope of this gradient diminishes , producing a banding gradient of a width suitable for banding the infectious agents . for cesium chloride gradients , the densities typically range from 1 . 18 to 1 . 55 g / ml . these gradient steps may not only contain reagents to dissolve non - viral particles , but also serve to wash excess fluorescent dye away from the particles . for example , various detergents or enzymes such as proteases may be added either to the sample layer 18 or to other layers such as 14 or 16 . fluorescent dyes may also be present in these regions . the free dye will not enter the lower , more dense regions in which the virus bands and therefore the centrifugation will purify the viruses from all of the reagents which may be present in the upper , less dense layers . after centrifugation , the microbanding region of the tube contains the upper portion of the banding gradient 27 , banded virus 28 ( including any dye bound to the virus or viral nucleic acid ) and lower dense portion of the banding gradient 29 , and the gradient formed between them by diffusion . fig3 a - 3g illustrate alternative embodiments of tubes useful for microbanding of viruses and bacteria and all have a serrated internal construction which allows one or more light barriers to be positioned and retained at rest . tubes shown in fig3 a - 3d and 3 g are designed to be centrifuged in swinging bucket rotors so that the tubes are horizontal during centrifugation and vertical at rest . the tube shown in fig3 a is the more conventional design with a sample reservoir 31 , a serrated finnel region 32 , and a microbanding section 33 . the tube shown in fig3 b is similar to that of fig3 a , but it is supported in a centrifuge shield by a support insert 34 which may be of plastic or metal . the tubes shown in fig3 b - 3e fill a rotor chamber completely . the tube of fig3 c has an opaque bottom section 35 which absorbs scattered light , while that shown in fig3 d has a bulbous section 36 at the bottom of the microbanding tube 37 to contain an excess volume of the fluid forming the dense end of the gradient , thus stabilizing the gradient . the tube shown in fig3 e is designed to be centrifuged in an angle head rotor as shown in fig3 f , and has a linearly continuous wall 38 along one side positioned in the rotor so that particles may readily slide down to microbanding region 40 . the tube shown in fig3 g illustrates how a very large microbanding tube may be fabricated . fig4 a - 4b illustrate how the tube of fig3 g may be centrifuged at higher speed than tubes having a constant radius from top to curved bottom . this is accomplished by using a metal , plastic or carbon fiber shield 45 which matches the dimensions of tube 46 . the shield has a cap 47 and the shield or bucket swings on integral attachment 48 , as is conventionally done in high speed swinging bucket rotors . tip 49 of the shield is much smaller diameter than the upper section of the shield , has much less mass swinging at its maximum radius , and hence can reach much higher speeds than is the case with shields of uniform internal diameter . this makes possible isolation of trace amounts of virus from much larger volumes than would otherwise be the case . during centrifugation using rotor 50 driven by drive 51 , shield and tube 52 assume a horizontal position as shown . the microbanded viruses can be analyzed at this stage or they can be collected , diluted , and further processed . to analyze the microbanded viruses at this stage , they can be detected by a system as shown in fig5 . for example , the isopycnic banding step or an earlier step may have included a fluorescent dye or fluorescent dyes within the solution with which the virus was mixed or through which the virus was centrifuged . dyes are known with which intact viruses may be stained and which can distinguish between rna , dna , single stranded nucleic acid and double stranded nucleic acid thereby allowing one to detect the presence or absence of an infectious agent , and further to determine which type of virus one has purified . the apparatus of fig5 can be used to analyze these stained particles . a scanning and detection system is illustrated schematically in fig5 where microbanding tube 60 is held in a vertical position on mount 61 supported by goniometers 62 and 63 which are in turn supported by x - y movements 64 and 65 in such a manner as to align and center the microbanding section of tube 60 with respect to laser beam 66 . laser beam 66 is generated by a laser 67 , which may be an argon ion laser producing coherent light at 458 , 488 , 496 , 502 , and 515 nm . the beam passes through an interference or other filter 68 to isolate one wavelength , and is reflected down into the microbanding tube by dichroic mirror 69 . the fluorescent banded particle zone 70 is photographed or electronically scanned by camera 71 through emission filter 72 . the entire system may be enclosed to eliminate stray light , and filters 68 and 72 may be replaced by filter wheels ( not shown ) to optimize detection using fluorescent dyes which absorb and emit at different wavelengths , or to distinguish ssdna , dsdna and rna by differences in the spectra of emitted fluorescent light . electronic shutters may be attached to the laser to minimize sample exposure to light and to the camera to control exposure . the goniometers and x - y movements may also be motor driven and remotely controlled , and the entire system may be controlled by a computer ( not shown ). fig6 illustrates a different version of the scanning system which can cover all of the visible spectrum and on into the near ultraviolet . microbanding tube 80 is aligned in a fixed support between transparent intensity equilibrators 81 and 82 attached to light pipes 83 and 84 which are in turn attached to intensity equilibrator 85 illuminated through filter 86 by condensing lens 87 and light source 88 . filter 86 is one of a set attached to filter wheel 89 indexed by motor 90 . the result is uniform illumination from two sides of one or more bands 91 , 92 and 93 . the image is captured through emission filter 94 by digital camera 95 and the image stored , processed and displayed by computer 96 on crt 97 . filter 94 may be replaced by a filter wheel identical to 89 and 90 so that , with both an excitation filter wheel and an emission filter wheel and a wide spectrum light source such as a xenon lamp or a halogen lamp , a wide variety of combination of exciting and emitting light may be chosen , which in turn makes possible use of a wide variety of fluorescent dyes . both fluorescent light and light scatter at a chosen wavelength may be employed for particle detection . this arrangement facilitates distinction between ssdna , dsdna and rna . the processed image 98 may be displayed to show a picture of the tube and contained bands 99 , 100 and 101 . the amount of light from each band may be integrated and displayed as peaks 102 , 103 , and 104 , and in addition the integrated values may be displayed digitally ( not shown ). the entire system including shutters on the light source and camera ( not shown ), filter movement and positioning , and focusing of the camera may be digitally controlled by computer 96 . display bands 99 and 101 , representing centrifuge tube bands 91 and 93 may be fluorescent or non - fluorescent density marker beads of known density , and the virus band 92 represented by display band 103 . the banding density of the virus may be determined by interpolation from the positions of the density markers . when non - fluorescent density markers are used , these are detected by scattered light using identical filters at positions 86 and 94 . a second image using suitable and different filters is then captured which is comprised solely of fluorescent light . the two images are electronically inter - compared and the physical density of the infectious agent determined by interpolation . at this stage , the virus can be identified as being a dna virus or an rna virus , and if a dna virus it can be determined whether it is single stranded or double stranded . furthermore , the density of the virus can be determined . this data can be used to help identify the type of virus which has been purified . nevertheless , it may be desirable or necessary to gather more data to fully determine what the exact virus is and also to determine the original viral titre . fig7 illustrates diagrammatically counting of individual fluorescent particles recovered from a tube 110 containing zones of banded virus 111 and 112 after all fluid above the banding gradient has been removed and replaced . the tube is placed in a tube holder 113 , and an overlay of deionized water or very dilute buffer 114 is introduced above the gradient supplied through tube 115 to replace the volume drawn up in the probe 117 . the tube may be closed at the top by a plastic closure 116 . the capillary probe 117 is held stationary , and the microbanding tube 110 is slowly raised under it . the tube holder 113 is part of a precision drive mechanism 118 and associated stepping motor 119 that moves the tube holder vertically at a very slow and controllable rate . a slow steady stream of fluid is drawn into constriction 120 which is centered in sheath stream 121 provided by pump 122 . the result is a constant flow of fluid through flow cell 123 with a fine virus containing stream in the center , elongated and extended by the flowing sheath . a second pump 124 withdraws fluid upward at a constant rate from the flow cell , which rate is greater than the rate at which piston pump 122 injects fluid into sheath 121 . the difference in the rates of pumps 124 and 122 is made up by the fluid coming through capillary probe 117 . the fluid coming through capillary probe 117 is a mixture of virus plus fluid from the overlay which is introduced via tube 115 . the flow cell 123 is illuminated by laser beam 125 produced by laser 126 , that passes through exciting filter 127 . emitted light is isolated by emission filter 128 and detected by a photomultiplier 129 . the output from the photomultiplier 129 is integrated at intervals by computer 130 , and the integrated signal vs . time is displayed on crt 131 . when two viral bands are present , two peaks such as 132 and 133 , are displayed . depending on the number of fluorescent particles present , the signal generated from a band may be integrated into a peak , or , if the suspension is sufficiently dilute , the particles may be counted individually , the values binned , and the integrated results displayed . in order to count the particles as just described , it is necessary that the virus particles are greatly diluted as they pass through flow cell 123 . fig8 illustrates diagrammatically how the problem of making an initial dilution of a very small - volume virus band for counting individual particles is accomplished . fig8 a shows a tube 110 as in fig7 , with a section indicated which is shown enlarged in fig8 b , which in turn shows the section of that panel enlarged in fig8 c . as the movement upward of the microbanding tube causes the capillary tube to move toward the tube bottom , the difference in pumping rates of the two pistons attached to the flow cell causes fluid to flow up the capillary where it is diluted as described by the combined action of pumps 122 and 124 of fig7 . however , the amount of fluid drawn into the capillary 117 is much greater than the volume of fluid effectively displaced from the banding gradient by the relative movements of the capillary and the microbanding tube . this volume is replaced by fluid flowing into tube 115 though cap 116 which is initially allowed to flow in until the tube 110 is full . this fluid is much less dense than the density of the fluid at the top of the gradient in the microbanding region , and causes minimal disturbance in the gradient . as shown in fig8 b , the capillary 117 slowly approaches virus band 144 , and , as shown in fig8 c , a small amount of gradient liquid 145 is diluted by a larger amount of supernatant fluid 114 as it flows up the capillary . in this manner , a sharp band of virus particles 144 is diluted and moves through the flow cell as , volumetrically , a larger band , but with little effective loss of resolution . this technique provides the dilution necessary to make counting of individual virus particles feasible and accurate . the amount of dilution can be controlled such that the concentration of microorganisms in the capillary tube is less than one - half or one - tenth , or one - hundredth , or one - thousandth , or one ten - thousandth , or one - millionth , or one - billionth of the concentration in the band in the lower region of said tube . in addition to counting the particles or determining the titre of a virus , the amount of dna in the virus or other microbe can be determined for individual particles . in this aspect of the invention , the amount of dna in the particles is measured by flow fluorescence analysis ( goodwin et al ., 1993 ) or epifluorescence analysis ( jing et al ., 1998 ). in this manner , yeast , bacteria , mycoplasm and virus can be distinguished as groups , for example , it is known that viruses contain 5 - 200 × 10 3 bases or base pairs , e . coli , a typical bacterium , contains 4 × 10 6 base pairs , while a typical yeast cell contains 1 . 3 × 10 7 base pairs . thus , an estimate of the amount of dna or rna present allows the class of an infectious agent to be determined . thus , the size of a genome can be determined . in this embodiment of the invention , the genome is extracted from the microorganism band and immobilized on a solid support . the immobilized dna is stained and electronically imaged using an epifluorescence microscope ( jing et al ., 1998 ). the length of the individual nucleic acid molecules can then be measured . the technique of microbanding is useful not merely for staining the virus with dyes and being able to count the virus particles . once the viruses from a biological sample have been highly purified and concentrated by the two dimensional centrifugation technique as described above using microbanding centrifuge tubes , the viruses are amenable for use in many other assays . when an infectious agent is banded in a microbanding tube , the band may also be judiciously removed using a capillary needle in a volume of a few microliters , diluted to 5 ml or more with very dilute buffer or deionized water to dilute the gradient materials by a factor as large as 1 , 000 , and then pelleted in a fresh microbanding tube . the supernatant may then be carefully withdrawn by a suction capillary , and the virus or other agent resuspended in approximately 1 microliter using a syringe made , for example , of fine teflon ® tubing fitted with a very small stainless steel wire plunger to fit . the sample may then be transferred to a mass spectrometer target , mixed with a matrix dye , and used for matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry ( maldi - tof - ms ) to determine directly the masses of viral coat proteins or of bacterial cell proteins . technology described for sample concentration may also be applied , without a matrix dye , to electrospray or other mass spectrometric analysis systems , including the detection of intact viral mass . a system similar to that shown in fig7 may also be used to produce the equivalent of molecular restriction fragment length maps of dna molecules using restriction enzymes . for this work , virus or bacterial particle bands may be diluted and sedimented as described , after which the dna may be extracted using detergents or other reagents well known in the art , treated with a restriction enzyme and a fluorescent dye , and the fragment sizes determined by flow cytometry ( goodwin et al ., 1993 ; hammond et al ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 558 , 998 ). extracted dna may also be immobilized on a solid support , stained with a fluorescent dye , and photographed using an epifluorescence microscope to determine the length of dna molecules . the preparation may then be treated with a restriction endonuclease , and the number and lengths of the oligonucleotide fragments determined ( jing et al ., 1998 ). these data are then compared with a database listing the expected fragment lengths for different viral or bacterial species to identify each agent . dna fragment lengths may also be determined by gel electrophoresis . fluorescence labeled antibodies may also be added to the particle suspension studied , and the presence or absence of the label in isopycnically banded particles determined . this approach is useful for specific identifications , and the use of a set of antibodies labeled with dyes having different and unique spectral characteristics allows the presence or absence of a series of agents to be determined . alternatively antibodies labeled with chelators for rare earth &# 39 ; s such as europium and terbium may be employed , in which case delayed fluorescence is measured . serum or plasma typically has a physical density between 1 . 026 and 1 . 031 . viruses typically have banding densities between 1 . 17 and 1 . 55 in cesium chloride , and at much lower densities in iodinated gradient materials such as lodixanol or sucrose ( graham et al ., 1994 ). the intermediate wash and reagent layers between the sample and the banding gradient must therefore have densities less than the density of the lightest virus to be banded . buffers used to dissolve gradient material for virus isolation include 0 . 05 m sodium borate , and 0 . 02 m sodium cyanide , both of which prevent bacterial growth . with human serum or plasma , centrifngation sufficient to remove platelets and other particles having sedimentation coefficients of approximately 10 4 s is used before banding of virus particles . the banding density of virus particles depends on the nucleic acid / protein ratio , and the presence or absence of lipids and lipoproteins . hence attachment of specific identifying antibodies labeled with fluorescent dyes should not only allow identification by fluorescence but by a banding density change . to assist in identifying particles by density , fluorescent particles of known density may be included in the sample as shown in fig6 . these particles may include known fixed and fluorescently stained virus or bacterial particles of known banding density , or very small fluorescently labeled or non - fluorescently labeled plastic beads . when polystyrene latex particles are coated with antibodies , their banding densities are increased appreciably , and the density may be further increased by reaction of the antibody - coated particles with the antigen for which the antibodies are specific ( anderson and breillatt , 1971 ). antibody - coated fluorescent polystyrene beads may therefore be used not only to locate virus particles but to identify them . the stains which are currently most useful are described in the handbook of fluorescent probes and research chemicals , r . p . haugland , ed ., molecular probes , inc ., eugene , oreg . ( 1996 ), which lists the abbreviated dye names , their chemical names , absorption and emission maxima , and the filter combinations most used . for work with human pathogens , safe operation and containment are important ( cho et al ., 1966 ). use of swinging bucket rotors , while optimal from a physico - chemical point of view , require extensive manipulation and have more parts than an angle - head rotor . the tubes described in fig3 e are designed to be used in angle - head rotors , and allow sedimenting particles to travel along a wall at one unchanging angle . such rotors are easier to use and handle in containment than are swinging bucket rotors , however , sedimentation in an angle head rotor is far from ideal . hence , the development of methods and devices for safely working with swinging bucket rotors is important . high speed centrifuge tubes are notoriously difficult to seal effectively and are a potential source of infection to laboratory personnel . in practice , nearly all high speed swinging bucket rotor tubes are not themselves sealed , but are enclosed in a metal bucket which is sealed with a metal cap which does not seal the tube . the centrifuge tubes are therefore open when loaded , moved to the centrifuge rotor , inserted , and removed . it is very difficult to decontaminate the outside of an open tube containing a density gradient without disturbing the gradient . in the present application it is desirable to be able to effectively seal the plastic tubes is such a manner that the outside surfaces can be cleaned with a suitable disinfectant before the tubes are inserted into centrifuge shields , and to be able to handle them safely until they are scanned . sealing is done , as shown in fig9 a , by inserting an annular ring seal 151 , having a physical density less than that of water , into tube 152 . ring 151 is slightly tapered so that it fits very tightly into tube 152 , and has a center hole which can be plugged and unplugged . in one embodiment , the center hole is threaded to accept a short , plastic flat - head screw . initially two gradient components , including a lighter solution 153 and a denser solution 155 , are introduced to the bottom microbanding region with a small air bubble 154 between , as previously described . as shown in fig9 b , the solution 156 containing the infectious agent or other particles is then introduced through tube 157 , leaving bubble 158 to separate the sample from the upper gradient solution . the volume of sample introduced does not completely fill the centrifuge tube , leaving space 159 empty . the tube is then sealed , as shown in fig9 c with , for example , a plastic flat head screw 160 , leaving air bubble 160 in place . the outside of the tube is then sterilized by immersing it in a disinfectant such as a sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide solution , followed by a water wash and gentle drying — all with the tube in an upright position . after centrifugation , as shown in fig9 d , the plastic upper seal has been driven downward by centrifugal force a small distance as the entrapped air rises around the plastic seal . however , since the seal has a density less than water , it is retained at the top of the liquid sample , leaving a small lip 160 which may be grasped with a hemostat to remove the tube from the centrifuge shield . during centrifugation , the infectious particles are sedimented out of liquid 163 and produce band 164 in the gradient . the screw in the ring seal is then removed , and , as shown in fig9 e , the supernatant liquid 165 , which may contain a fluorescent dye , is removed through tube 166 , leaving meniscus 167 . as shown in fig9 f , a laser beam 168 , entering the tube from above , is then aligned with the tube , causing the banded infectious agent to emit fluorescent light for detection as previously described . when a step gradient containing various reagents in addition to those used for isopycnic banding is employed , as illustrated in fig2 , the discs used to separate the several solutions rise to the top and would not allow the use of vertical laser illumination as shown in fig9 f without removing the seal and the discs . in this instance , side illumination , as illustrated in fig6 would be employed . the laser or delayed fluorescence systems can be completely contained , the mechanical operations done remotely through small stepping motors , and the tubes moved in and out of the contained system under remote control . these techniques can be combined with mass spectrometry and fluorescence - based restriction fragment mapping to allow rapid diagnosis and identification of infectious agents . however , the estimates of the masses of individual proteins are generally taken from published sequence data , and do not include numerous posttranslational modifications . mass spectrometric data bases must be created to include actual mass measurements of different microorganisms . in addition , virion protein mass measurements will allow the detection of many genetic variants . however , for many studies of microorganisms , including development of data bases , the key problem has been the development of methods for systematically providing highly concentrated and purified microsamples of microorganisms from patient samples , natural waters , and from tissue culture fluids . this problem is solved by the present invention . the present invention is described by reference to the following example , which is offered by way of illustration and are not intended to limit the invention in any manner . standard techniques well known in the art or the techniques specifically described below were utilized . to illustrate the use of microbanding tubes , experimental studies have been carried out using a small single - stranded non - pathogenic dna virus φx 174 . approximately 10 10 virus particles which had been purified by isopycnic banding in cscl in a microbanding tube such as shown in fig2 a were suspended in 5 ml of 0 . 05 m borate buffer , were pelleted in a microbanding tube at 35 , 000 rpm in a swinging bucket rotor , and were resuspended in approximately 3 μl for analysis . the analyses were done on a perseptive biosystems destr instrument with an extraction delay time set at 150 nseconds using a matrix of sinapinic acid . bovine insulin ( mw = 5 , 734 . 59 ) and horse heart apomyoglobin ( mw = 16 , 952 ) were used as 1 and 2 pmole standards . the results are shown in table 1 . the φx 174 masses for virion capsid proteins f , g , h and j are calculated from published sequence data . the differences between the calculated and experimental values for f and h are probably due to posttranslational modifications . the probability that an unrelated virus could have subunits of the same masses listed is vanishingly small . however , even more definitive protein identifications can be made by treating viral proteins with proteolytic enzymes such as trypsin and determining the masses of the peptide fragments produced . computer programs are available which calculate the sizes of fragments of proteins of known sequence by well characterized enzymes . such programs include protein prospector ( available from the university of california , san francisco ) and profound ( available from rockefeller university ). this example demonstrates that highly purified and concentrated suspensions of microorganisms can be isolated from biological samples such as , but not limited to , patient samples such as plasma , urine , feces and tissues , natural water and tissue culture fluids . this example further demonstrates that such purified and concentrated microorganisms can then be identified , for example , using mass spectrometry to identify viruses . while the invention has been disclosed in this patent application by reference to the details of preferred embodiments of the invention , it is to be understood that the disclosure is intended in an illustrative rather than in a limiting sense , as it is contemplated that modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art , within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims . anderson , n . g . et al . 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