Advances in DNA Microarray Technology for the Detection of Foodborne Pathogens

Abstract

Hundreds of foodborne infection cases occur around the world, and up to one third of the population in industrialized nations suffers from foodborne illness each year. The advent of genetic-based technologies made feasible developing sensitive and specific screening tests for the detection of microbial pathogens. Microarray-based technologies represent an advance in nucleic acid testing methods whose main features include miniaturization, ability to parallelize sample processing, and ease of automation. Many applications, based on both commercial and custom arrays, have already been reported. The constant attempt to obtain reliable, sensitive, and robust methods has also driven the development of different molecular methods, relying on hybridization or on enzymatic techniques (such as minisequencing/extension or ligation). At the same time, probe design strategies and data analysis pipelines have been refined as well, in order to make result evaluations faster and less prone to errors. The high number of genetic information already available allowed reaching a resolution below the species level, being able to discriminate among serovars or strains, thanks to the careful choice of variable regions. Currently, the sensitivity of the assays can be as low as 1 CFU/ g for some bacteria after enrichment. In this review, we present an overview of the most important advances in microarray technologies in the foodborne pathogen detection field.

Species Identification of Food Spoilage and Pathogenic Bacteria by MALDI-TOF Mass Fingerprinting

“…Thanks to the increase in the complete microbial genome sequences, DNA microarrays are becoming a common tool in many areas of microbial research in the field of bacterial identification in clinical diagnostics, as well as in the food sector (Severgnini et al, 2011). Microarray is a powerful, sensitive and specific technology that allows an accurate identification based on single target detection and can determine subtle differences in the genome.…”

Food Analysis: Present, Future, and Foodomics

“…The introduction of genetic-based technologies makes feasible developing sensitive and specific screening tests for the detection of microbial pathogens. Microarray-based technologies represent an advance in nucleic acid testing methods whose main features include miniaturization, ability to parallelize sample processing, and ease of automation [142,143]. Despite the advent of these rapid detection methods based on molecular techniques (or immunoassays), it is suggested that reduction and/or elimination of cultural enrichment will be essential in the quest for truly real-time detection methods.…”

A Nondestructive Real-Time Detection Method of Total Viable Count in Pork by Hyperspectral Imaging Technique

“…Although this method can greatly reduce the time consumption, which is still much longer and sensitive to temperature. Some biological methods, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) have also been developed and applied for microbial identification and determination [5,6]. Although the results are relatively accurate and reliable, they are also accompanied with strong technicality and high cost.…”