Sc. Stringer et al., SPECIFIC ANTIBODY-MEDIATED DETECTION OF BROCHOTHRIX THERMOSPHACTA IN-SITU IN BRITISH FRESH SAUSAGE, Journal of Applied Bacteriology, 78(4), 1995, pp. 335-340
A rabbit polyclonal antibody-linked probe was developed which detected
76% of 800 food isolates of the spoilage bacterium Brochothrix thermo
sphacta when cells were bound to nitrocellulose. In slide cross-reacti
on tests all six environmental isolates tested were stained but the ty
pe strain was not. The antibody did not cross-react with Listeria gray
i, L. monocytogenes, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactococcus lactis, Stre
ptococcus mutans, Bacillus cereus or B. subtilis. The antibody-linked
probe detected Br. thermosphacta in thin sections of British fresh sau
sage when the viable count was greater than 10(6) g(-1). Cells were de
tected mainly within 1 or 2 mm of the surface on the loose starchy mat
erial. They were not detected within muscle blocks or in the centre of
the sausage. Such results suggest that growth of this organism occurs
close to the