Alliance to Develop Assay for Bacteria

A collaboration to develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection and speciation of Campylobacter jejuni and Escherichia coli has been established by Dupont's Qualicon business (Wilmington, DE, USA) and the Antimicrobial Resistance Research Unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (DA). Campylobacter, found in a large percentage of raw chicken, is the leading cause of bacterial diarrhea in the United States and causes more disease then Shigella and Salmonella combined.

The assay will be run on the fully automated Bax system of Qualicon, a rapid pathogen-
detection platform based on PCR. It will provide diagnostic laboratories, veterinarians, and scientists with a rapid and accurate way to identify potentially deadly bacteria. The Bax system combines all necessary reagents and a positive control into a prepackaged tablet. Qualicon has developed packages to detect the key pathogens and indicator organisms of Salmonella, E coli 0157:H7, Listeria genus, and Listeria monocytogenes in food and environmental samples. Detection capability for the Crytosporidum parvum parasite in water will be added in the near future.

Qualicon offers products and services that apply genetic technology and microbial expertise to improve quality and safety in the food and health markets. The company developed the RiboPrinter Microbial Characterization System, the only automated instrument for fingerprinting the DNA of bacteria.