Psychrotolerant sporeformers, specifically Paenibacillus spp., are important spoilage bacteria for pasteurized, refrigerated foods such as fluid milk. While Paenibacillus spp. have been isolated from farm environments, raw milk, processing plant environments, and pasteurized fluid milk, no information on the number of Paenibacillus spp. that need to be present in raw milk to cause pasteurized milk spoilage was available. A real-time PCR assay targeting the 16S rRNA gene was designed to detect Paenibacillus spp. in fluid milk and to discriminate between Paenibacillus and other closely related spore-forming bacteria. Specificity was confirmed using 16 Paenibacillus and 17 Bacillus isolates. All 16 Paenibacillus isolates were detected with a mean cycle threshold (C T ) of 19.14 ؎ 0.54. While 14/17 Bacillus isolates showed no signal (C T > 40), 3 Bacillus isolates showed very weak positive signals (C T ؍ 38.66 ؎ 0.65). The assay provided a detection limit of approximately 3.25 ؋ 10 1 CFU/ml using total genomic DNA extracted from raw milk samples inoculated with Paenibacillus. Application of the TaqMan PCR to colony lysates obtained from heat-treated and enriched raw milk provided fast and accurate detection of Paenibacillus. Heat-treated milk samples where Paenibacillus (>1 CFU/ml) was detected by this colony TaqMan PCR showed high bacterial counts (>4.30 log CFU/ ml) after refrigerated storage (6°C) for 21 days. We thus developed a tool for rapid detection of Paenibacillus that has the potential to identify raw milk with microbial spoilage potential as a pasteurized product.
Despite advances in food preservation techniques, bacterial spoilage remains a leading cause of global food loss (14). Nearly one-third of all food produced worldwide is estimated to be lost postharvest, and much of this loss can be attributed to microbial spoilage (16). Dairy products constitute one of the leading sectors impacted by food loss in the United States, as nearly 20% of conventionally pasteurized (high temperature, short time [HTST]) fluid milk is discarded prior to consumption each year (23). In the United States, the shelf life of fluid milk ranges from approximately 1 to 3 weeks. Most consumer complaints result from the growth of psychrotolerant bacteria, typically, either nonspore-forming Gram-negative rods or Gram-positive sporeforming bacteria (12,18,19,28,34,39). The presence of psychrotolerant, non-spore-forming bacteria (e.g., Pseudomonas) in pasteurized milk indicates either inadequate heating of the milk or, more commonly, postpasteurization contamination (6). Therefore, pasteurized milk contamination with Pseudomonas and other non-spore-forming bacteria can be controlled or eliminated by adhering to pasteurization specifications for minimum time and temperature combinations (8) and by adhering to proper sanitation and equipment maintenance protocols, particularly with respect to milk filler sites (33). Conversely, Grampositive psychrotolerant sporeformers can survive pasteurization as spores, germinate, and then grow ...