Evaluation of Microbial Viability and Nucleic Acid Integrity After Exposure to New Molecular Transport Medium SIGMA-MM™

Exposure of clinically relevant bacteria and fungi to SIGMA-MM™ molecular transport medium was assessed to determine its ability to achieve rapid microbial inactivation while preserving nucleic acid integrity for downstream molecular diagnostics. Across a panel of Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and yeast organisms, the medium achieved complete inactivation within minutes, with no regrowth detected after extended incubation. Despite rapid antimicrobial activity, DNA extraction from treated organisms remained successful, with high-purity nucleic acid recovered from multiple species. Gel electrophoresis confirmed the presence of intact bacterial DNA, although yield varied by organism, highlighting the need for amplification-based detection methods such as PCR. Overall, the SIGMA-MM™ system demonstrated effective pathogen inactivation while maintaining DNA quality suitable for molecular diagnostic workflows.