ABSTRACT
Bacterial aerosols belong to a great family of aerodisperse systems consisting of fine and coarse particles of variable biological origin, e.g., pollen, fungal spores, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, algae. Classical bacterial detection and identification are usually based on morphological evaluation of microorganisms as well as viability tests in or on various media, susceptibility to various phages and antibiotics, and the ability to metabolize various compounds. Pyrolysis gas chromatography can be used for detection and identification of microorganisms as a bulk method, and pyrograms of sampled microorganisms predominantly contain amino acids, sugars, carbohydrates, purine and pyrimidine bases. Fluorescence- and luminescence-based identification techniques generate data only from some molecular components of the microorganisms. The fluorescence characteristic is suggestive of biological properties inherent to the particle. Biological warfare agents are derived from bacterial cultures either in the form of vegetative cells or spores.
