Bw. Blais et Lm. Phillippe, A SIMPLE RNA PROBE SYSTEM FOR ANALYSIS OF LISTERIA-MONOCYTOGENES POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION PRODUCTS, Applied and environmental microbiology, 59(9), 1993, pp. 2795-2800
The synthesis of an RNA probe specific for the hlyA gene of Listeria m
onocytogenes by in vitro transcription from a polymerase chain reactio
n (PCR)-generated template incorporating bacteriophage T7 promoter seq
uences is described. This simple method produced a high yield of RNA w
hich hybridized specifically with hlyA PCR products on a membrane, res
ulting in RNA-DNA hybrids which were detected by an immunoenzymatic as
say with an anti-RNA-DNA hybrid antibody. The RNA probe hybridization
system was more sensitive in the analysis of the PCR products than was
the conventional agarose gel electrophoresis method. When applied to
the analysis of PCR samples from cultures of various Listeria and non-
Listeria organisms, the RNA probe was reactive in the assay of 62 diff
erent L. monocytogenes isolates but not other Listeria species. Among
the non-Listeria organisms tested, only Enterococcus faecalis gave a w
eak positive reaction with more than 10(9) cells per ml. This reactivi
ty disappeared at lower cell densities. This strategy for the synthesi
s and application of RNA probes should facilitate the analysis of PCR
products in the detection of L. monocytogenes and possibly other food
pathogens.