Rapid detection of salmonellosis due to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in Peruvian commercially bred cavies, using indigenous wild bacteriophages

Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay with High Sensitivity to Rapid Detection of Viable Salmonella in Foods

Background: Salmonella is one of the main foodborne bacterial pathogens, causing diseases and death. The study used reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) to detect Salmonella. Objectives: To design six primers and detect Salmonella using RT-LAMP to facilitate the rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria in food. Methods: We designed six primers based on the gene coding sequences of inv A, specific to Salmonella. Each reaction solution contained 6.0 mM MgSO4, 1 M betaine, 1.6 mM dNTPs, 160 U/mL Bst DNA polymerase, 0.2 μM of both external primers, 0.8 μM of both internal primers, and 0.2 μM of both loop primers. The reaction temperature was 65°C. Results: Our amplified products were separated by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. The detection limit was 10 CFU per reaction. Conclusions: RT-LAMP exhibited the same accuracy as the GB assay in detecting Salmonella in foods. RT-LAMP was highly specific and sensitive; hence, it may serve as an effective tool in detecting Salmonella.

Reporter Phage-Based Detection of Bacterial Pathogens: Design Guidelines and Recent Developments

Fast and reliable detection of bacterial pathogens in clinical samples, contaminated food products, and water supplies can drastically improve clinical outcomes and reduce the socio-economic impact of disease. As natural predators of bacteria, bacteriophages (phages) have evolved to bind their hosts with unparalleled specificity and to rapidly deliver and replicate their viral genome. Not surprisingly, phages and phage-encoded proteins have been used to develop a vast repertoire of diagnostic assays, many of which outperform conventional culture-based and molecular detection methods. While intact phages or phage-encoded affinity proteins can be used to capture bacteria, most phage-inspired detection systems harness viral genome delivery and amplification: to this end, suitable phages are genetically reprogrammed to deliver heterologous reporter genes, whose activity is typically detected through enzymatic substrate conversion to indicate the presence of a viable host cell. Infection with such engineered reporter phages typically leads to a rapid burst of reporter protein production that enables highly sensitive detection. In this review, we highlight recent advances in infection-based detection methods, present guidelines for reporter phage construction, outline technical aspects of reporter phage engineering, and discuss some of the advantages and pitfalls of phage-based pathogen detection. Recent improvements in reporter phage construction and engineering further substantiate the potential of these highly evolved nanomachines as rapid and inexpensive detection systems to replace or complement traditional diagnostic approaches.

New bioluminescence pyrophosphate assay for high-sensitivity detection of food-borne pathogens

Traditional methods of identifying food-borne pathogens are time consuming and laborious, so innovative methods for their rapid identification must be developed. Testing for bioluminescence pyrophosphate is a convenient and fast method of detecting pathogens without complex equipment. However, the sensitivity of the method is not as high as that of other methods, and it has a very high detection limit. In this study, the method was optimized to improve its sensitivity. The shortcomings of the method were first identified and corrected using dATPαS instead of dATP for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), therefore reducing the background signal. Also, when the DNA template extracted from the food-borne pathogens was purified, the new bioluminescence pyrophosphate assay had a limit of detection of <10 copy/μl or 10 colony-forming units/ml, and its sensitivity was higher than that of fluorescent real-time quantitative PCR. Moreover, a single copy of a food-borne pathogen could be detected when a single DNA template was included in the PCR. Salmonella was detected in and isolated from 60 samples of broiler chicken, and the accuracy of the results was verified using a culture method (GB 4789.4-2010). These results showed that the new bioluminescence pyrophosphate assay has the advantages of an intuitive detection process, convenient operation, and rapid measurements. Therefore, it can be used for the rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria and probiotics in various fields.