USE OF THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION FOR SALMONELLA DETECTION

A primer set of oligonucleotides (S18 and S19) from the ompC gene of S almonella has been evaluated for specific detection of Salmonella by p olymerase chain reaction (PCR). This primer set successfully amplified 40 Salmonella serovars (60 isolates), but not 24 non-Salmonella bacte ria (42 isolates) that have been tested so far. The uniqueness of thes e primer sequences was also confirmed. The sensitivity of PCR detectio n in extracted chromosomal DNA for Salm. typhimurium was 1 pg. The sen sitivity for boiled whole bacteria was 400 cells. The detection of Sal m. typhimurium in ground beef samples required 4-6 h enrichment with a n initial inocula of 100 bacteria.