A rapid (one day), sensitive real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for detecting Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef.
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.
Holicka
Jane
J
Master of Biotechnology Program, Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, ON, Canada.
Guy
Rebecca A
RA
Kapoor
Anita
A
Shepherd
David
D
Horgen
Paul A
PA
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