A COMPARISON BETWEEN A PCR METHOD AND A CONVENTIONAL CULTURE METHOD FOR DETECTING PATHOGENIC YERSINIA-ENTEROCOLITICA IN FOOD

The aim of this study was to develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for the detection of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica and to compare it with an official culture method (NMKL-117). Primers were s elected for nested PCR directed at the attachment invasion locus, ail, on the bacterial chromosome, as well as at a sequence on the pathogen ic marker plasmid, termed virulence factor, virF. The final results ob tained by the two methods were similar. However, while the conventiona l method yielded contradictory data for some steps the PCR method prov ided unambiguous results. Considerable advantages, i.e. higher sensiti vity and specificity of the PCR method, compared with the conventional method for detecting pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, were demonstrated in this study.