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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 #150501

Title: IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ARCOBACTER AND CAMPYLOBACTER FROM RETAIL POULTRY BY PHYSIOLOGICAL TESTING AND POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION ASSAYS

Author
item OYARZABAL, O - NATL FOOD PROCESSORS
item Wesley, Irene
item BARBAREE, J - AUBURN UNIVERSITY
item LAUERMAN, L - C S ROBERTS VET DIAGN LAB
item CONNER, D - AUBURN UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Campylobacter Helicobacter and Related Organisms International Workshop
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/6/2003
Publication Date: 9/6/2003
Citation: OYARZABAL, O.A., WESLEY, I.V., BARBAREE, J.M., LAUERMAN, L.H., CONNER, D.E. IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ARCOBACTER AND CAMPYLOBACTER FROM RETAIL POULTRY BY PHYSIOLOGICAL TESTING AND POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION ASSAYS. CAMPYLOBACTER HELICOBACTER AND RELATED ORGANISMS INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP. 2003. ABSTRACT P. 144.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: One hundred retail poultry carcasses were analyzed using the rinse technique to determine the presence of both Arcobacter and Campylobacter. Two enrichment media originally designed for the isolation of Campylobacter spp. from foods, Bolton and Hunt-Radle, and one plating medium, charcoal cefoperazone deoxycholate agar [CCDA], were used. Bolton broth was incubated at 37 deg C, instead of the suggested temperature of 42 deg C, to determine the recovery properties of less stringent enrichment conditions. Hunt-Radle broth was incubated at 42 deg C. For initial identification, Campylobacter-like colonies from CCDA were observed under phase-contrast microscopy, biochemical testing, and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Sixty-two carcasses yielded Campylobacter-like bacteria. Biochemical tests and PCR assays identified 43 of these isolates as Campylobacter spp. and 19 as Arcobacter spp. (17 isolates from Bolton and two from Hunt-Radle). Using less stringent incubation conditions, Arcobacter can be recovered with media designed for the isolation of Campylobacter. When compared with traditional biochemical tests for species identification, PCR was faster and, in the case of Arcobacter spp., more discriminatory than biochemical tests. In addition, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of five randomly selected Arcobacter isolates grown at 15 deg C and 42 deg C showed that Arcobacter spp. can survive and replicate at both 15 deg C and 42 deg C. This study suggests that the growth range of Arcobacter is broader than previously reported.