Rapid and Sensitive Detection ofSalmonella entericaser. Enteritis Retrieved from Lettuce Using a Real-time Loop-mediated Amplification Isothermal Assay Without Enrichment

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.

Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Salmonella Detection in Food and Feed: Current Applications and Future Directions

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has become a powerful alternative to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for pathogen detection in clinical specimens and food matrices. Nontyphoidal Salmonella is a zoonotic pathogen of significant food and feed safety concern worldwide. The first study employing LAMP for the rapid detection of Salmonella was reported in 2005, 5 years after the invention of the LAMP technology in Japan. This review provides an overview of international efforts in the past decade on the development and application of Salmonella LAMP assays in a wide array of food and feed matrices. Recent progress in assay design, platform development, commercial application, and method validation is reviewed. Future perspectives toward more practical and wider applications of Salmonella LAMP assays in food and feed testing are discussed.

Application of ethidium bromide monoazide for quantification of viable and dead cells of Salmonella enterica by real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification

A rapid and efficient method for quantification and discrimination of Salmonella enterica ser. Enteritidis between viable and dead cells killed by heat was developed using ethidium bromide monoazide (EMA) in combination with a real-time loop amplified (Rti-LAMP) DNA assay. The use of 8.0 μg/ml or less of EMA did not inhibit DNA amplification in Rti-LAMP assays derived from viable cells. However, 8.0 μg/ml of EMA notably inhibited DNA amplification and significantly increased the Tp values with dead cells. When the DNA from 2000 viable CFU was subjected to EMA-Rti-LAMP the resulting Tp value was 13 min. In contrast, the DNA from 2000 CFU completely heat destroyed CFU still yielded a Tp value, which was greatly increased to 33.1 min. When the DNA from viable plus heat killed CFU at a ratio of 7:1993 was subjected to EMA-Rti-LAMP, the resulting Tp value was 19.3 min, which was statistically identical (P<0.05) to the Tp value of 19.9 min. obtained with the DNA from only 7 viable CFU. These results indicate that even though 2000 dead cells yielded a Tp value of 33.1 min., low numbers of viable cells in the presence of much higher numbers of dead cells still yielded a linear plot for enumerating viable CFU from Tp values. In addition, propidium monoazide (PMA) was found to be ineffective in distinguishing between low numbers of viable and heat killed cells of S. enterica.