title: A rapid (one day), sensitive real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for detecting Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to apply our rapid, integrated double enrichment 5' nuclease real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and evaluate its efficacy. The assay targeted ground beef, an important vehicle in disease epidemiology. The assay reliably determined in 8 h the presence of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef at the level of 1 colony-forming unit (CFU)/g. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay were compared with that of standard enrichment diagnostic techniques. A correlation of 100% in detection was achieved to the limit of 1 CFU/g. This assay can be used as a rapid, automatic process for identification of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef or can be integrated with standard culture procedures, resulting in considerable cost and time savings.
authors.affiliation: Master of Biotechnology Program, Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holicka
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Guy
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kapoor
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shepherd
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Horgen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity