Title

A study of the potential application of digital PCR in the detection of fecal contamination of strawberries using Bacteroides markers

Authors

Nicole Fernandez-Tejero, Florida International University
Alyssa N. Sanchez, Florida International University
Mirna Ghemrawi, Florida International University
Catherine Bilodeau, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Sylvia Etim, Florida International University
George Duncan, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Matt Cochran, Texas A&M University
Bruce McCord, Florida International University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2023

Publication Title

Journal of Microbiological Methods

Keywords

Nanoplate digital PCR, Bacteroides, Fecal contamination

ISSN

1872-8359

Volume

212

First Page

106811

Abstract

Food-borne illnesses can result from contamination of agricultural products. In this study, we examined nanoplate digital PCR (dPCR) to test for fecal contamination of agricultural products. In nanoplate technique, the PCR mastermix is divided into 8.526,000 partitions, providing direct detection of individual DNA molecules, with correction by Poisson distribution. In this project, strawberries were inoculated with fecal material from animals, and the result detected by nanoplate digital PCR. A detection limit of 250 fg/uL was determined. Overall, dPCR offers a quick and sensitive method to detect contaminated produce.

Comments

The authors greatly appreciate support from Qiagen for the loan of a digital nanoplate PCR system.

© 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V.

NSUWorks Citation

Fernandez-Tejero, Nicole; Alyssa N. Sanchez; Mirna Ghemrawi; Catherine Bilodeau; Sylvia Etim; George Duncan; Matt Cochran; and Bruce McCord. 2023. "A study of the potential application of digital PCR in the detection of fecal contamination of strawberries using Bacteroides markers." Journal of Microbiological Methods 212, (): 106811. doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2023.106811.

ORCID ID

0000-0002-8838-0858,

DOI

10.1016/j.mimet.2023.106811