Previous Article | Next Article 
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2003, p. 6327-6333, Vol. 69, No. 10
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.10.6327-6333.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Multiplex Real-Time PCR Method To Identify Shiga Toxin Genes stx1 and stx2 and Escherichia coli O157:H7/H- Serotype
Karen C. Jinneman,1,2* Ken J. Yoshitomi,1,2 and Stephen D. Weagant2
Seafood Products Research Center,1
Pacific Regional Laboratory Northwest, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Bothell, Washington2
Received 21 March 2003/
Accepted 31 July 2003

ABSTRACT
A multiplex real-time PCR method to simultaneously detect the
stx1 and
stx2 genes of Shiga toxin-producing
Escherichia coli and a unique conserved single-nucleotide polymorphism in the
E. coli O157:H7/H
- uidA gene has been developed. There is more
than 98.6% sensitivity and 100% specificity for all three gene
targets based on a panel of 138 isolates. The PCR efficiencies
were

1.89, and as few as 6 CFU/reaction could
be detected.

INTRODUCTION
Shiga toxin-producing
Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are recognized
as an important group of enteric pathogens capable of causing
serious illnesses and death (
15,
18,
20,
26). More than 100
E. coli serotypes may produce Shiga toxins (
24). Several sporadic
cases, large outbreaks, and illnesses worldwide have been associated
with STEC organisms, primarily the
E. coli O157:H7 serotype,
making this an important class of food-borne pathogens (
1,
7,
8,
9,
21,
22,
30,
33,
34,
35).
The Shiga toxins produced by STEC are generally considered the principal virulence characteristic responsible for serious illnesses associated with this organism. Therefore, the presence of these cytotoxins or their genes (stx1 and stx2) is the focus of many assays for STEC organisms. Due to the predominance of the O157:H7 STEC serotype associated with human illness, many methods also focus on the detection and identification of this serogroup. A highly conserved point mutation at position 93 of the uidA (ß-glucuronidase) gene occurs in O157:H7 and nonmotile O157 strains, including atypical O157:H- clones implicated in German hemolytic-uremic syndrome outbreaks (11, 12, 13, 23). The detection of the stx1 and stx2 genes and the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at position 93 are the basis of a multiplex mismatch amplification mutation assay (6) and oligonucleotide probe hybridization tests (10).
Real-time PCR applications offer the advantages of being more sensitive and rapid by not requiring post-PCR procedures to detect amplification products used in conventional PCR-based procedures. Recent advances using minor-groove binder (MGB) modifications to significantly increase duplex stability have improved SNP detection in real-time PCR applications (19). The goal of this project was to develop an STEC multiplex real-time PCR method that can specifically detect stx1 and stx2 genes with a multiplex 5' nuclease approach and simultaneously detect the presence of E. coli O157:H7/H- strains based on a unique and conserved SNP in the uidA gene by using a 3' MGB probe. The real-time PCR MGB probe approach used here combines the advantages of a rapid PCR process similar to the mismatch amplification mutation assay without reducing PCR efficiency and the ability to optimize stringent hybridization requirements for SNP detection in one assay.
Primer pairs and internal fluorescent probes were selected and designed with Primer Express (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) (Table 1) based on sequences submitted to GenBank. Sequence comparison and lineups were generated with the GCG program (Wisconsin Package, version 10.3; Accelrys Inc., San Diego, Calif.). Primers were synthesized by standard methods (IDT, Coralville, Iowa, and Sigma-Genosys, The Woodlands, Tex.). The stx1 probe (stx1P990) was 5' end labeled with 6-carboxy-X-rhodamine (ROX) and 3' end labeled with Black Hole Quencher (BHQ2) (Biosearch Technologies, Novato, Calif.); the stx2 probe (stx2P1249) was 5' labeled with 6-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) and 3' end labeled with BHQ1 (IDT). The uidA O157:H7/H- genotype MGB probe (uidAP266) was 5' end labeled with 6-carboxy-4,7,2',7'-tetrachloro-fluorescein (TET) and MGB nonfluorescence quencher moieties at the 3' end (Applied Biosystems).
View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
TABLE 1. Primer and probe sequences used in a multiplex real-time PCR assay to detect stx1, stx2, and the position 93 uidA SNP of E. coli O157:H7/H-
|
The four sets of optimal reaction conditions identified previously
with the
uidA O157:H7/H
- genotype real-time PCR assay (
36) were
tested with a selected group of isolates in a multiplex format
(Tables
2 and
3). The most stringent magnesium concentration
(2 mM) and temperature (63°C for 25 s of annealing and extension)
combination resulted in a false-negative result for
stx2 with
strain EDL 933. Among the other three sets of conditions tested,
there were no false-negative or false-positive results for any
of the test isolates. The set of conditions including 3 mM MgCl,
63°C for 25 s annealing and extension, and 0.025 µM
uidA probe resulted in the lowest average end fluorescence,
2.684, for the non-O157:H7/H
- isolates (C600, CFSAN$400, and
ATCC 13337), and therefore these conditions were selected for
testing additional strains.
View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
TABLE 2. Amplification conditions used for multiplex PCR of stx1, stx2, and the position 93 uidA SNP of E. coli O157:H7/H-
|
View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
TABLE 3. Ct and end fluorescence (dR) values for stx1, stx2, and the position 93 uidA SNP of E. coli O157:H7/H- with four amplification parameters setsa
|
However, under these conditions, STEC strains that were non-O157:H7/H
- and
stx2 positive had considerable spectral overlap between
the adjacent FAM (
stx2) and TET (
uidA O157:H7/H
- genotype) channels.
Reducing the FAM (
stx2) probe concentration to 0.025 µM
resulted in no false-positive results in the TET (
uidA O157:H7/H
- serotype) or FAM (
stx2) channels (Table
4). The end fluorescence
values in the FAM (
stx2) channel for
stx2-positive isolates
decreased, but the
stx2 (FAM)-positive isolates remained positive
even at the reduced probe concentration, with an average cycle
threshold (Ct) value of 19.82, compared to 19.61 (
n = 14). Real-time
fluorogenic multiplex assays can be complicated by several variables
related to the fluorescence emission spectra generated by each
probe. While the introduction of dark quencher molecules, where
fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is to the infrared
rather than the UV spectrum, allows less nonspecific background
fluorescence in multiplex assays, the emissions of the reporter
dyes in adjacent channels must still be carefully optimized.
In this multiplex format, the optimal probe concentration was
reduced to 0.025 µM for the two probes (
stx2 and
uidA)
located in adjacent channels (FAM and TET).
View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
TABLE 4. Effect of reduced stx2 (FAM) probe concentration on background end fluorescence (dR) in the FAM and TET channelsa
|
The optimized method utilized 10 mM Tris HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM
KCl (PCR Gold Buffer II; Applied Biosystems), 200 µM (each)
dGTP, dCTP, dTTP, and dATP, 3.0 mM MgCl
2, a 0.25 µM concentration
of each primer (stx1F934, stx1R1042, stx2F1218, stx2R1300, uidAF241,
and uidAR383) (Table
1), a 0.1 µM concentration of the
stx1 probe (stx1P990ROX), a 0.025 µM concentration of
the
stx2 probe (stx2P1249FAM), a 0.025 µM concentration
of the
uidA O157:H7/H
- serotype probe (uidAP266TET-MGB), 1.25
U of AmpliTaq Gold (Applied Biosystems), and 0.5 µl of
sample template in a total volume of 25 µl. The amplification
program included an initial polymerase activation step, 10 min
at 94°C, and 40 cycles of 20 s at 94°C and 25 s at 63°C,
performed on a Smart Cycler thermal cycler (Cepheid, Sunnyvale,
Calif.). Fluorescence values were recorded in each round during
the 25-s, 63°C annealing-extension step in the FAM, TET,
and ROX channels. Ct values were based on primary curve analysis
using manual threshold settings set at 15.0 fluorescence units,
with default background subtraction.
The optimized method was tested with 138 isolates, which had various stx1, stx2, and uidA E. coli O157:H7/H- genotypes that had been previously determined. The assay specificity was 100% of this multiplex real-time PCR for all three targets with 138 isolates, and the assay sensitivity was 98.6, 100, and 100% for stx1, stx2, and uidA O157:H7/H- targets, respectively. All of the isolates except one produced the correct genotypic pattern with this real-time multiplex PCR method (Table 5). The one isolate that did not was CFSAN$407 (E. coli O15:H27), which gave a false-negative result for the stx1 (ROX) gene. Although this isolate did not cross the threshold, there appeared to be some amplification, which resulted in an end fluorescence value of 27.727 in the ROX channel. The appropriate stx1 genotype with a Ct value of 22.60 was achieved when the annealing-extension temperature was reduced to 60 from 63°C. In addition, sequencing of the stx1 gene from this strain revealed two mismatches with the probe and one mismatch with the reverse primer, perhaps contributing to the reduced reaction efficiency. The stx1 gene sequence of this strain had the greatest similarity with the stx1 variant GenBank sequences AY135685, AJ314839, and AJ314838 (2).
View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
TABLE 5. Ct values for 138 isolates representing different genotypes for stx1, stx2, and the uidA E. coli O157:H7/H- position 93 SNP
|
The test panel included 52
E. coli O157:H7 and two
E. coli O157:H
- isolates, all of which were detected by the unique
E. coli O157:H7/H
- uidA position 93 component of this multiplex assay. A real-time
PCR assay that targets the
rfbE gene (lipopolysaccharide O side
chain of
E. coli O157) would not distinguish between
E. coli O157:H7 and
E. coli O157 with other H-flagellin antigens (
14).
The assay reported here did not detect
E. coli O157 with other
flagellin serotypes, including three
E. coli O157:H16 isolates
and an
E. coli O157:H45 isolate. Other real-time PCR assays
target the
eaeO157 (

-intimin) gene and detect
E. coli O55:H7
and
E. coli O55:NM strains in addition to
E. coli O157:H7 and
E. coli O157:H
- strains (
25,
32). This assay did not detect
two strains of the closely related
E. coli O55:H7/H
- serotype.
The sensitivity of the multiplex format was reliable, with as few as 6 CFU/reaction within 40 cycles for E. coli O157:H7 strain EDL 933. Serial dilutions of the EDL 933 template also demonstrated the potential quantitative ability of this multiplex real-time PCR application, with an average shift in Ct values of 3.66 for each 10-fold dilution (Fig. 1). The real-time PCR efficiency was calculated for each gene in the multiplex based on the slope of the lines using the formula 10-1/slope (5, 27, 28). The calculated efficiencies for each of the components of this multiplex were similar, with values of 1.89, 1.91, and 2.01 for the stx1, stx2, and uidA O157 genotypes, respectively. Optimal PCR efficiency would be equal to 2.00 and generate a slope of -3.32. The sensitivity for each component of the multiplex reaction can be compared based on the y intercept (5, 27, 28). In this case, the stx1 and stx2 genes had y intercepts of 39.395 and 39.427, respectively, while the uidA O157 genotype was slightly less sensitive, with a y intercept of 42.369.
The average Ct values for each amplification product (
stx1,
stx2, and
uidA O157 genes) were similar regardless of whether
the amplifications were run individually or in the multiplex
format (Fig.
2). The average Ct values for the individually
run reactions were 19.62, 19.08, and 21.67 for the
stx1,
stx2,
and
uidA O157 genotypes, respectively, based on 14 replicates.
When the real-time PCR was run in a multiplex format, the average
Ct value shifted only to 19.23 for
stx1, 18.81 for
stx2, and
22.69 for
uidA O157 genotype, also based on 14 replicates.
The specificity of the
stx1 and
stx2 assay components of this
real-time multiplex PCR is attributed to the specificity of
the primers and probes for sequences present only in STEC strains.
In contrast, the primers in the
uidA O157:H7/H
- assay are designed
to amplify a 143-bp fragment of the
uidA gene that occurs in
nearly all
E. coli strains. The O157:H7/H
- specificity is conferred
by the specificity of an internal MGB probe for the conserved
SNP at position 93. For use in 5' nuclease assays such as this
one, the MGB is attached to the 3' end of the probe. Because
the specificity of the
uidA MGB probe needs to be more tightly
controlled than that of the
stx1 or
stx2 probe, the optimization
of the entire multiplex assay is more contingent on the
uidA assay requirements than the
stx1 or
stx2 components. The similar
slopes observed for all three multiplex assay components (
stx1,
stx2, and
uidA) indicate that the PCR efficiencies for all three
are generally equivalent even in a multiplex format. The Ct
value lag of 3 and the increased
y intercept of the
uidA component
relative to those of
stx1 and
stx2 could be attributed more
to differences in the annealing efficiency of the internal probes
than to the PCR efficiency.
Other real-time PCR STEC methods have focused primarily only on detection of the stx1 and stx2 genes (3, 4, 17, 29, 31, 32). Some real-time PCR assays may include additional components to identify EHEC by targeting the intimin (eaeA), enterohemolysin (E-hly), and O-antigen (rfbE) genes (14, 16, 25, 31, 32). This is the first multiplex real-time PCR method to specifically target the highly conserved SNP at position 93 of E. coli O157:H7/H- uidA and the stx1 and stx2 genes. Real-time PCR methods for detection of STEC and EHEC use a variety of fluorogenic detection approaches, including the use of SYBR green (Molecular Probes, Inc., Eugene, Oreg.) and melt curve analyses (17), 5' nuclease assay probes (16, 25, 31, 32), FRET hybridization with melt curves to distinguish stx2 and stx2e (4, 29), and molecular beacons (3, 14). Several instrument platforms, including Light Cycler (4, 17, 29), Smart Cycler (3), ABI Prism (14, 25, 32), and the I-Cycler (16), have been used to support these assays. This multiplex assay uses fluorogenic probes in a 5' nuclease assay format and was optimized on a Smart Cycler instrument. Overall, this multiplex real-time PCR method can be used for the rapid detection of all STEC strains and other Shiga toxin-producing bacteria by targeting the stx1, stx2, and variant genes as well as providing specific identification of the O157:H7/H- serotype, the predominant STEC serotype associated with human illness.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Seafood Products Research Center, Pacific Regional Laboratory Northwest, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 22201 23rd Dr. SE, Bothell, WA 98021. Phone: (425) 483-4871. Fax: (425) 483-4996. E-mail:
Karen.Jinneman{at}fda.gov.


REFERENCES
1 - Ahmed, S., and M. Donaghy. 1998. An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in central Scotland, p. 59-65. In J. B. Kaper and A. D. O'Brien (ed.), Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other Shiga toxin-producing E. coli strains. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C.
2 - Altschul, S. F., T. L. Madden, A. A. Schaffer, J. Zhang, Z. Zhang, W. Miller, and D. J. Lipman. 1997. Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs. Nucleic Acids Res. 25:3389-3402.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
3 - Belanger, S. D., M. Boissinot, C. Manard, F. J. Picard, and M. G. Bergon. 2002. Rapid detection of Shiga toxin-producing bacteria by multiplex PCR with molecular beacons on the Smart Cycler. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40:1436-1440.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
4 - Bellin, T., M. Pulz, A. Matussed, H. G. Hempen, and F. Gunzer. 2001. Rapid detection of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli by real-time PCR with fluorescent hybridization probes. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39:370-374.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
5 - Bustin, S. A. 2000. Absolute quantification of mRNA using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. J. Mol. Endocrinol. 25:169-193.[Abstract]
6 - Cebula, T. A., W. L. Payne, and P. Feng. 1995. Simultaneous identification of strains of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 and their Shiga-like toxin type by mismatch amplification mutation assay-multiplex PCR. J. Clin. Microbiol. 33:248-250.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
7 - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1993. Update: multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections from hamburgerswestern United States, 1992-1993. Morbid. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 42:258-263.
8 - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1996. Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with drinking unpasteurized commercial apple juice. Morbid. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 45:44.
9 - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1997. Update outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 associated with eating alfalfa sproutsMichigan and Virginia, June-July 1997. Morbid. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 46:741-744.
10 - Feng, P. 1993. Identification of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 by DNA probe specific for an allele of uidA gene. Mol. Cell. Probes 7:151-154.[CrossRef][Medline]
11 - Feng, P., P. I. Fields, B. Swaminathan, and T. S. Whittam. 1996. Characterization of nonmotile Escherichia coli O157 and other serotypes by using an anti-flagellin monoclonal antibody. J. Clin. Microbiol. 34:2856-2859.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
12 - Feng, P., and K. A. Lampel. 1994. Genetic analysis of uidA gene expression in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7. Microbiology 140:2101-2107.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
13 - Feng, P., K. A. Lampel, H. Karch, and T. S. Whittam. 1998. Genotypic and phenotypic changes in the emergence of Escherichia coli O157:H7. J. Infect. Dis. 177:1750-1753.[CrossRef][Medline]
14 - Fortin, N. Y., A. Mulchandani, and W. Chen. 2001. Use of real-time polymerase chain reaction and molecular beacons for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Anal. Biochem. 289:281-288.[CrossRef][Medline]
15 - Griffin, P. M., and R. V. Tauxe. 1991. The epidemiology of infections caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7, other enterohemorrhagic E. coli and the associated hemolytic uremic syndrome. Epidemiol. Rev. 13:60-98.[Free Full Text]
16 - Ibekwe, A. M., P. M. Watt, C. M. Greive, V. K. Sharma, and S. R. Lyons. 2002. Multiplex fluorogenic real-time PCR for detection and quantification of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in dairy wastewater wetlands. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:4853-4862.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
17 - Jothikumar, N., and M. W. Griffiths. 2002. Rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 with multiplex real-time PCR assays. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:3169-3171.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
18 - Karmali, M. A. 1989. Infection by verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2:15-38.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
19 - Kutyavin, I. V., I. A. Afonina, A. Mills, V. V. Gorn, E. A. Lukhtanov, E. S. Belousov, M. J. Singer, D. K. Walburger, S. G. Lokhov, A. A. Gall, R. Dempcy, M. W. Reed, R. B. Meyer, and J. Hedgpeth. 2000. 3'-minor groove binder-DNA probes increase sequence specificity at PCR extension temperatures. Nucleic Acids Res. 28:655-661.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
20 - Law, D. 2000. Virulence factors of Escherichia coli O157 and other Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. J. Appl. Microbiol. 88:729-745.[CrossRef][Medline]
21 - McGowan, K. L., E. Wickersham, and N. A. Strockbine. 1989. Escherichia coli O157:H7 from water. Lancet i:967-968.
22 - Michino, H., K. Araki, S. Minani, T. Nakayama, Y. Ejima, K. Hiroe, H. Tanaka, N. Fujita, S. Usami, M. Yonekawa, K. Sadamoto, S. Takaya, and N. Sakai. 1998. Recent outbreaks of infections caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Japan, p. 73-81. In J. B. Kaper and A. D. O'Brien (ed.), Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other Shiga toxin-producing E. coli strains. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C.
23 - Monday, S. R., T. S. Whittam, and P. C. H. Feng. 2001. Genetic and evolutionary analysis of mutations in the gusA gene that cause the absence of ß-glucuronidase activity in Escherichia coli O157:H7. J. Infect. Dis. 184:918-921.[CrossRef][Medline]
24 - Nataro, J. P., and J. B. Kaper. 1998. Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 11:142-201.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
25 - Oberst, R. D., M. P. Hays, L. K. Bohra, R. K. Phebus, C. T. Yamashiro, C. Paszako-Kolva, S. J. A. Flood, J. M. Sargeant, and J. R. Gillespie. 1998. PCR based DNA amplification and presumptive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 with an internal fluorogenic probe and the 5' nuclease (TaqMan) assay. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64:3389-3396.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
26 - O'Brien, A. D., and R. K. Holmes. 1987. Shiga and Shiga-like toxins. Microbiol. Rev. 51:206-220.[Free Full Text]
27 - Pfaffl, M. W. 2001. A new mathematical model for relative quantification in real-time RT-PCR. Nucleic Acids Res. 29:2002-2007.
28 - Pfaffl, M. W., G. W. Horgan, and L. Dempfle. 2002. Relative expression software tool (REST©) for group-wise comparison and statistical analysis of relative expression results in real-time PCR. Nucleic Acids Res. 30:e36.
29 - Reischl, U., M. T. Youssef, J. Kilwinski, N. Lehn, W. L. Zhang, H. Karch, and N. A. Strockbine. 2002. Real-time fluorescence PCR assays for detection and characterization of Shiga toxin, intimin and enterohemolysin genes from Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40:2555-2565.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
30 - Riley, L. W., R. S. Remis, S. D. Helgerson, H. B., McGee, J. G. Wells, B. R. Davis, R. J. Herbert, G. S. Olcott, L. M. Johnson, N. T. Hargett, P. A. Blake, and M. L. Cohen. 1983. Hemorrhagic colitis associated with a rare Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7. N. Engl. J. Med. 308:681-685.[Abstract]
31 - Sharma, V. K., E. A. Dean-Nystrom, and T. A. Casey. 1999. Semi-automated fluorogenic PCR assays (TaqMan) for rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other Shiga toxigenic E. coli. Mol. Cell. Probes 13:291-302.[CrossRef][Medline]
32 - Sharma, V. K. 2002. Detection and quantitation of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157, O111, O26 in beef and bovine feces by real-time polymerase chain reaction. J. Food Prot. 65:1371-1380.[Medline]
33 - Strockbine, N. A., L. R. M. Marques, J. W. Newland, H. W. Smith, R. K. Holmes, and A. D. O'Brien. 1986. Two toxin-converting phages from Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain 933 encode antigenically distinct toxins with similar biologic activities. Infect. Immun. 53:135-140.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
34 - Swerdlow, D. L., B. A. Woodruff, R. C. Brady, P. M. Griffin, S. Tippen, H. D. Donnell, Jr., E. Geldreich, B. J. Payne, A. Neyer, J. G. Wells, K. D. Greene, M. Bright, N. Bean, and P. A. Blake. 1992. A waterborne outbreak in Missouri of Escherichia coli O157:H7 associated with bloody diarrhea and death. Ann. Intern. Med. 117:812-819.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
35 - Tilden, J., Jr., W. Young, A.-M. McNamara, C. Custer, B. Boesel, M. A. Lambert-Fair, J. Majkowski, D. Vugia, S. B. Werner, J. Hollingsworth, and J. G. Morris, Jr. 1996. A new route of transmission of Escherichia coli: infection from dry fermented salami. Am. J. Public Health 86:1142-1145.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
36 - Yoshitomi, K. J., K. C. Jinneman, and S. D. Weagant. Optimization of 3'-minor groove binder-DNA probe for the rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7/H- using real-time PCR. Mol. Cell. Probes, in press.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2003, p. 6327-6333, Vol. 69, No. 10
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.10.6327-6333.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Crawford-Miksza, L. K., Himathongkham, S., Dodd, M. L., Badoiu, A. S., Badoiu, O. M., Guthertz, L. S.
(2009). Misidentification of a Variant Biotype of Escherichia coli O157:H7 as Escherichia fergusonii by Vitek 2 Compact. J. Clin. Microbiol.
47: 872-873
[Full Text]
-
Rashid, R. A., Tabata, T. A., Oatley, M. J., Besser, T. E., Tarr, P. I., Moseley, S. L.
(2006). Expression of Putative Virulence Factors of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Differs in Bovine and Human Infections. Infect. Immun.
74: 4142-4148
[Abstract]
[Full Text]