Development of a combined PCR-culture technique for the rapid detection of Arcobacter spp. in chicken meat.
A combined PCR-culture technique was developed to detect Arcobacter spp. in fresh chicken meat. Following a short selective enrichment of chicken samples, bacterial DNA was extracted and amplified using primers targeted at the genes encoding 16S rRNA of Arcobacter spp. The selected primers amplify a 181-bp fragment from all Arcobacter spp., whereas no PCR product is generated for other bacteria, including the closely related Campylobacter and Helicobacter species. The assay was used to screen 96 retail-purchased chicken samples for the presence of Arcobacter spp. Fifty-three percent of the samples analysed were positive for this micro-organism. The assay is simple and sensitive and reduces the amount of time required to positively detect Arcobacter spp. in poultry meat.
González
I
I
Departamento de Nutrición y Bromatologia III, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain. gonzalzi@eucmax.sim.ucm.es
García
T
T
Antolín
A
A
Hernández
P E
PE
Martín
R
R
D000818:Animals; D020640:Arcobacter / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002167:Campylobacter; D002645:Chickens; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D016998:Helicobacter; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000032:analysis; D013045:Species Specificity
D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S