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Development of a rapid PCR approach to the screening of foodstuffs for the presence of Campylobacter jejuni. - FS1214
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Description
Campylobacter jejuni is emerging as one of the most
important food poisoning organisms, and hence, the project
aims to produce a simple, rapid, PCR based screening asay
for the detection of C. jejuni in a variety of foodstuffs.
The complex composition and wide variety of food matrices
has hindered the development of simple PCR based assays for
food pathogens and hence, the project will concentrate
primarily on overcoming the problems associated with direct
PCR from complex food matrices. Primers will be designed
with unique specificity for C. jejuni and we will aim to
produce an assay that would be suitable for routine
analytical application in a food laboratory with no
particular background in molecular biology. |
Objective
1. To identify species specific DNA sequences for C. jejuni
from nucleic acid sequence databases and literature.
2. To design suitable PCR primers and check on specificity
of amplification for target pathogen.
3. To study the minimum necessary processing of a variety of
relevant food samples, eg. poultry, meats and offal, to
allow specific, sensitive PCR detection of the organism at
very low levels.
4. To determine the necessary conditions for direct lysis of
Campylobacter jejuni as an initial step in PCR.
5. To optimise the PCR conditions and assay format.
6. To evaluate the assay against a variety of spiked and
routine food samples.
7. To validate against accepted cultural assay procedures
designed to detect Campylobacter jejuni. The LGC has an
active microbiology group which is NAMAS accredited and has
extensive experience of classical cultural procedures.
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Time-Scale and Cost
From:
1994
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To:
1995
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Cost: £69,433 |
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Contractor / Funded Organisations
LGC |
Keywords
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