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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #125689
Title: 5' FLUOROGENIC PCR ASSAY FOR THE IAP GENE OF LISTERIA SPECIES

Author
item Wesley, Irene
item JOURDAN, A - 3625-30-15
item Hurd, Howard
item PINKERTON, ANGELIA - 3625-30-15

Submitted to: Food Safety Consortium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/18/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: We developed a fluorogenic 5' nuclease PCR assay targeting the iap gene, which is highly conserved in all Listeria species. We used this assay to screen tissues obtained during a survey of cull sows. To date, we have detected Listeria species in cecal contents (66%, 23 of 35 samples), tonsil homogenates (67%, 4 of 6 samples), and ileocecal lymph nodes (75%, 6 of 8 samples), but infrequently in feces collected prior to slaughter (4.4%, 1 of 23 samples). Taken together, these data indicate that second generation 5' nuclease PCR (TaqMan) assays will accelerate detection and quantitation of Listeria during pork production. This may reduce product recalls as well as reduce human illness and deaths. The development of portable instruments for 5' nuclease assays will expedite field surveys.