ARS | Publication request: ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOMAGNETIC CHEMILUMINESCENT DETECTION OF ESCHERICHIA COLI 0157:H7

Submitted to: Pittsburgh Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: January 13, 2003
Publication Date: March 13, 2003
Citation: GEHRING, A.G., IRWIN, P.L., REED, S.A., TU, S. ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOMAGNETIC CHEMILUMINESCENT DETECTION OF ESCHERICHIA COLI 0157:H7. PITTSBURGH CONFERENCE. 2003.

Technical Abstract: E. coli O157:H7 is a pathogenic microorganism that has been implicated in numerous cases of foodborne illnesses. A variety of rapid methods exist that show promise for the detection of this pathogen without the need for incubating test samples for hours to days in microbial enrichment media. We have developed a rapid method, termed enzyme-linked immunomagnetic chemiluminescence (ELIMCL) that incorporates the selectivity of antibodies with magnetic particle isolation, the signal amplification indicative of enzymes, and highly sensitive chemiluminescent detection. This work presents the application of ELIMCL to the detection of E. coli O157:H7 in pristine buffered saline with detection limits of approx. 1 E4 and 1 E3 for live and heat-killed cells, respectively. The blocking agent casein and the surfactant Tween-20 were used to maximize signal to noise ratios. The performance of ELIMCL with E. coli O157:H7 inoculated ground beef is also revealed in this report.