title: Evaluation of immunomagnetic separation for the detection of Salmonella in surface waters by polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Salmonella spp. is associated with fecal pollution and capable of surviving for long periods in aquatic environments. Instead of the traditional, time-consuming biochemical detection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) allows rapid identification of Salmonella directly concentrated from water samples. However, prevalence of Salmonella may be underestimated because of the vulnerability of PCR to various environmental chemicals like humic acid, compounded by the fact that various DNA polymerases have different susceptibility to humic acid. Because immunomagnetic separation (IMS) theoretically could isolate Salmonella from other microbes and facilitate removal of aquatic PCR inhibitors of different sizes, this study aims to compare the efficiency of conventional PCR combined with immunomagnetic separation (IMS) for Salmonella detection within a moderately polluted watershed. In our study, the positive rate was increased from 17.6% to 47% with nearly ten-fold improvement in the detection limit. These results suggest the sensitivity of Salmonella detection could be enhanced by IMS, particularly in low quality surface waters. Due to its effects on clearance of aquatic pollutants, IMS may be suitable for most DNA polymerases for Salmonella detection.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, Taichung 435, Taiwan. jowyu@msn.com.
authors.forename: Chao-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan. bmhsu@ccu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Bing-Mu
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan. jackym076@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Tien-Yu
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan. g9510820@gemail.yuntech.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Tsui-Kang
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan. g9510820@gemail.yuntech.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Shu-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: General Surgery, Surgical Department, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan. ejchiu3@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Yi-Chou
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan. zlike123@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Hung-Jen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan. jws_bio@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Wen-Tsai
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan. cwfan@ccu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Cheng-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering and Health, Yuan-Pei University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan. jlchen@mail.ypu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Jyh-Larng
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000382:microbiology*; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012475:Salmonella / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013624:Taiwan; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000032:analysis