A comparison between a PCR method and a conventional culture method for detecting pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica in food.
The aim of this study was to develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for the detection of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica and to compare it with an official culture method (NMKL-117). Primers were selected for nested PCR directed at the attachment invasion locus, ail, on the bacterial chromosome, as well as at a sequence on the pathogenic marker plasmid, termed virulence factor, virF. The final results obtained by the two methods were similar. However, while the conventional method yielded contradictory data for some steps the PCR method provided unambiguous results. Considerable advantages, i.e. higher sensitivity and specificity of the PCR method, compared with the conventional method for detecting pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, were demonstrated in this study.
Thisted Lambertz
S
S
National Food Administration, Uppsala, Sweden. sula@slv.se
Ballagi-Pordány
A
A
Nilsson
A
A
Norberg
P
P
Danielsson-Tham
M L
ML
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D005516:Food Microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D037521:Virulence Factors; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000302:isolation & purification*
C069712:Ail protein, Yersinia enterocolitica; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors