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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Characterization and Interventions for Foodborne Pathogens » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #354700
Research Project: Advanced Development of Innovative Technologies and Systematic Approaches to Foodborne Hazard Detection and Characterization for Improving Food Safety

Location: Characterization and Interventions for Foodborne Pathogens

Title: Rapid detection and differentiation of Staphylococcus colonies using an optical scattering technology

Author
item ALSULAMI, TAWFIQ - Purdue University
item ZHU, XINGYUE - Purdue University
item ABDELHASEIB, MAHA - Purdue University
item SINGH, ATUL - Purdue University
item BHUNIA, ARUN - Purdue University

Submitted to: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/7/2018
Publication Date: 5/24/2018
Citation: Alsulami, T.S., Zhu, X., Abdelhaseib, M.U., Singh, A.K., Bhunia, A.K. 2018. Rapid detection and differentiation of Staphylococcus colonies using an optical scattering technology. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1133-4.

Interpretive Summary: Staphylococcus aureus is an important cause of foodborne illness in the United States, causing over 240,000 illnesses each year. Here we report the rapid detection and identification of colonies of Staphylococcus species, including S. aureus, from two foods commonly associated with S. aureus food poisoning, raw bovine milk and ready-to eat chicken salad. The highly accurate method (>94% accuracy) is based on a laserbased BARDOT (bacterial rapid detection using optical scattering technology) technology. This study further validates the potential use of BARDOT for label-free, non-invasive on-plate bacterial colony screening technology as an effective tool for food safety and public health management. Improved methods for the rapid and accurate detection of S. aureus in food will aid the food industry and regulatory agencies in reducing the incidence of disease.

Technical Abstract: Staphylococcus species are a major pathogen responsible for nosocomial infections and foodborne illnesses. We applied a laserbased BARDOT (bacterial rapid detection using optical scattering technology) for rapid colony screening and detection of Staphylococcus on an agar plate and differentiate these from non-Staphylococcus spp. Among the six growth media tested, phenol red mannitol agar (PRMA) was found most suitable for building the Staphylococcus species scatter image libraries. Scatter image library for Staphylococcus species gave a high positive predictive value (PPV 87.5–100%) when tested against known laboratory strains of Staphylococcus spp., while the PPV against non-Staphylococcus spp.was 0–38%. A total of nine naturally contaminated bovine raw milk and ready-to-eat chicken salad samples were tested, and BARDOT dtected Staphylococcus including Staphylococcus aureus with 80–100% PPV. Forty-five BARDOT-identified bacterial isolates from naturally contaminated foods were further confirmed by tuf and nuc gene-specific PCR and 16S rRNA gene sequence. This label-free, non-invasive on-plate colony screening technology can be adopted by the food industries, biotechnology companies, and public health laboratories for Staphylococcus species detection including S. aureus from various samples for food safety and public health management.