A rapid, sensitive and automated method for detection of Salmonella species in foods using AG‐9600 AmpliSensor Analyzer

The AG‐9600 AmpliSensor Analyzer is an automated fluorescence‐based system for detection of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products. The principle of the AmpliSensor PCR assay involves amplification‐mediated disruption of a fluorogenic DNA signal duplex (AmpliSensor) that is homologous to a target sequence within a 284‐bp amplified fragment of the Salmonella invA gene. Since the assay is homogenous, the data can be obtained by direct measurement of fluorescence of the amplification mixture. The accumulation of the amplified product, reflected by the fluorescence index, is monitored cycle by cycle by the AG‐9600 Analyzer. The detection limit of the assay was less than 2 colony‐forming units (cfu) per PCR reaction using a pure culture of Salmonella typhimurium. In post‐spiking experiments in which Salmonella was added to the overnight pre‐enriched samples (chicken carcass rinses, ground beef, ground pork and raw milk), the detection limit of the assay was 2–6 cfu per PCR reaction. In pre‐spiking experiments in which Salmonella was added to the samples prior to overnight pre‐enrichment, the detection limit was less than 3 cfu per 25 g or 25 ml of food. The assay was up to 2 orders of magnitude more sensitive than detection by ethidium bromide‐stained agarose gel electrophoresis. To further evaluate assay performance, 54 naturally contaminated chicken carcass rinses, 65 raw milk and six ground pork samples were tested in the study. Thirty‐eight Salmonella‐positive samples confirmed by the Modified Semi‐solid Rappaport‐Vassiliadis (MSRV) culture assay were found positive using the AmpliSensor assay. Two chicken carcass rinses found positive using the assay were MSRV‐negative. In addition, relative quantification using the AmpliSensor assay was linear up to 3 logs of initial target concentration in artificially contaminated food samples.