Application of an automated immunomagnetic separation–enzyme immunoassay for the detection of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica from poultry environmental swabs

Immunomagnetic separation: An effective pretreatment technology for isolation and enrichment in food microorganisms detection

The high efficiency and accurate detection of foodborne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms in food are a task of great social, economic, and public health importance. However, the contamination levels of target bacteria in food samples are very low. Owing to the background interference of food ingredients and negative impact of nontarget flora, the establishment of efficient pretreatment techniques is very crucial for the detection of food microorganisms. With the significant advantages of high specificity and great separation efficiency, immunomagnetic separation (IMS) assay based on immunomagnetic particles (IMPs) has been considered as a powerful system for the separation and enrichment of target bacteria. This paper mainly focuses on the development of IMS as well as their application in food microorganisms detection. First, the basic principle of IMS in the concentration of food bacteria is presented. Second, the effect of different factors, including the sizes of magnetic particles (MPs), immobilization of antibody and operation parameters (the molar ratio of antibody to MPs, the amount of IMPs, incubation time, and bacteria concentration) on the immunocapture efficiency of IMPs are discussed. The performance of IMPs in different food samples is also evaluated. Finally, the combination of IMS and various kinds of detection methods (immunology-based methods, nucleic acid-based methods, fluorescence methods, and biosensors) to detect pathogenic and spoilage organisms is summarized. The challenges and future trends of IMS are also proposed. As an effective pretreatment technique, IMS can improve the detection sensitivity and shorten their testing time, thus exhibiting broad prospect in the field of food bacteria detection.

Rapid detection of Salmonella in poultry environmental samples using real-time PCR coupled with immunomagnetic separation and whole genome amplification

We evaluated the combination of immunomagnetic separation (IMS), multiple displacement amplification (MDA), and real-time PCR to detect Salmonella from poultry environmental samples. The limits of detection (LODs) of IMS-MDA real-time PCR with different culture enrichment hours (0, 4, 6, and 8 h) were determined in artificially inoculated litter samples from a specific pathogen-free (SPF) poultry farm. In addition, Salmonella detection rate of IMS-MDA real-time PCR with 8-h culture enrichment was compared with that of conventional real-time PCR and culture-based detection by analyzing 174 poultry environmental samples (boot swabs, drag swabs, and litter), and the levels of Salmonella in the samples were quantified using the most probably number method. The LODs of IMS-MDA real-time PCR with 0, 4 to 6, and 8-h enrichment were 10, 1, and 0.1 CFU/g, respectively. Salmonella was detected in 25 of the 174 environmental samples (14.4%) by IMS-MDA real-time PCR, compared with 24 (13.8%) by conventional real-time PCR and 19 (10.9%) by culturing. Cohen's kappa index indicated strong concordance (0.79) between IMS-MDA real-time PCR and culture detection. We demonstrated the potential of the IMS-MDA real-time PCR assay as a faster and more sensitive alternative to culture-based Salmonella detection from poultry environmental samples.

A New Whole Genome Culture-Independent Diagnostic Test (WG-CIDT) for Rapid Detection of Salmonella in Lettuce

The rapid detection of foodborne microbial pathogens contaminating fresh fruits and vegetables during the intervening period between harvest and consumption could revolutionize microbial quality assurance of food usually consumed raw and those with a limited shelf life. We have developed a sensitive, shotgun whole genome sequencing protocol capable of detecting as few as 1 colony forming unit (cfu) of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium spiked on 25 g of lettuce. The Ion Torrent sequencing platform was used to generate reads of globally amplified DNA from microbes recovered from the surface of lettuce followed by bioinformatic analyses of the nucleotide sequences to detect the presence of Salmonella. The test is rapid and sensitive, and appropriate for testing perishable foods, and those consumed raw, for Salmonella contamination. The test has the potential to be universally applicable to any microbial contaminant on lettuce as long as a suitable bioinformatics pipeline is available and validated. A universal test is expected to pave the way for preventive and precision food safety and the re-shaping of the entire spectrum of food safety investigations from the current disease-limiting, reactive procedure to a proactive, disease prevention process.

Detection of Salmonella in Food Matrices, from Conventional Methods to Recent Aptamer-Sensing Technologies

Rapid detection of the foodborne pathogen Salmonella in food processing is of crucial importance to prevent food outbreaks and to ensure consumer safety. Detection and quantification of Salmonella species in food samples is routinely performed using conventional culture-based techniques, which are labor intensive, involve well-trained personnel, and are unsuitable for on-site and high-throughput analysis. To overcome these drawbacks, many research teams have developed alternative methods like biosensors, and more particularly aptasensors, were a nucleic acid is used as biorecognition element. The increasing interest in these devices is related to their high specificity, convenience, and relative rapid response. This review aims to present the advances made in these last years in the development of biosensors for the detection and the quantification of Salmonella, highlighting applications on meat from the chicken food chain.

Rapid detection of Enterobacter cloacae by immunomagnetic separation and a colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic assay

This is the first study of detection of Enterobacter cloacae via combined immunomagnetic separation and a colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic assay.

Development of a novel bacteriophage based biomagnetic separation method as an aid for sensitive detection of viable Escherichia coli

The application of bacteriophage combined with the use of magnetic separation techniques has emerged as a valuable tool for the sensitive identification and detection of bacteria. In this study, bacteriophage T7 labelled magnetic beads were developed for the detection of viable bacterial cells. Fusion of the biotin acceptor peptide (BAP) with the phage capsid protein gene and the insertion of the biotin ligase (BirA) gene enabled the display of the BAP ligand and the expression protein BirA during the replication cycle of phage infection. The replicated Escherichia coli specific bacteriophage was biotinylated in vivo and coated on magnetic beads via streptavidin-biotin interaction. Immobilization efficiency of the recombinant phage was investigated on magnetic beads and the phage-bead complex was evaluated by detecting E. coli from inoculated broth. When compared to the wild type phage, the recombinant phage T7birA-bap had a high immobilization density on streptavidin-coated magnetic beads and could capture 86.2% of E. coli cells from broth within 20 min. As this phage-based biomagnetic detection approach provided a low detection limit of 10(2) CFU mL(-1) without pre-enrichment, we believe this assay could be further developed to detect other bacteria of interest by applying host-specific phages. This would be of particular use in detecting bacteria which are difficult to grow or replicate slowly in culture.

Colorimetric biosensing of targeted gene sequence using dual nanoparticle platforms

We have developed a colorimetric biosensor using a dual platform of gold nanoparticles and graphene oxide sheets for the detection of Salmonella enterica. The presence of the invA gene in S. enterica causes a change in color of the biosensor from its original pinkish-red to a light purplish solution. This occurs through the aggregation of the primary gold nanoparticles–conjugated DNA probe onto the surface of the secondary graphene oxide–conjugated DNA probe through DNA hybridization with the targeted DNA sequence. Spectrophotometry analysis showed a shift in wavelength from 525 nm to 600 nm with 1 μM of DNA target. Specificity testing revealed that the biosensor was able to detect various serovars of the S. enterica while no color change was observed with the other bacterial species. Sensitivity testing revealed the limit of detection was at 1 nM of DNA target. This proves the effectiveness of the biosensor in the detection of S. enterica through DNA hybridization.

Sensitive electrochemical detection of Salmonella with chitosan-gold nanoparticles composite film

An ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensor for detection of Salmonella has been developed based on using high density gold nanoparticles (GNPs) well dispersed in chitosan hydrogel and modified glassy carbon electrode. The composite film has been oxidized in NaCl solution and used as a platform for the immobilization of capture antibody (Ab1) for biorecognition. After incubation in Salmonella suspension and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugated secondary antibody (Ab2) solution, a sandwich electrochemical immunosensor has been constructed. The electrochemical signal was obtained and improved by comparing the composite film with chitosan film. The result has shown that the constructed sensor provides a wide linear range from 10 to 10(5) CFU/mL with a low detection limit of 5 CFU/mL (at the ratio of signal to noise, S/N=3:1). Furthermore, the proposed immunosensor has demonstrated good selectivity and reproducibility, which indicates its potential in the clinical diagnosis of Salmonella contaminations.

Sensitive detection of food-borne pathogen Salmonella by modified PAN fibers-immunoassay

Sensitive and rapid detection of Salmonella is a key to the prevention and identification of problems associated with human health and safety. Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) are popular and widely implemented technique to detect pathogenic bacteria in routine analysis but a typical ELISA yields a sensitivity of 10(6)-10(7)cfu/mL. The present study consecrates on the applicability of surface modified polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers as a novel matrix of immunoassay for the detection of Salmonella typhimurium in a sandwich ELISA format. Affinity purified antibody against Salmonella common structural antigen (CSA-1-Ab) was immobilized on modified PAN (mPAN) fibers using covalent immobilization via amine-glutaraldehyde chemistry and inactivated S. typhimurium were captured from various samples and detected colorimetrically using peroxidase-labelled common structural antibody (CSA-1-Ab-HRP) against Salmonella. The performance of the developed immunoassay was compared with commercially available immunomagnetic microbeads (Dynabeads(®) anti-Salmonella), polystyrene (PS) microtitre plate and glutaraldehyde activated PS plate. Limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 10, 10(5), 10(6) and 10(7)cells/mL of bacteria for mPAN, Dynabeads(®), glu-plate and PS plate respectively without any pre-enrichment step. The assay was specific for the targeted bacteria when investigated with other cross-reactant food and water-borne pathogens. The developed immunoassay offered undisputed advantages of being simple, sensitive and specific for the detection of S. typhimurium.