Midterm 3 Flashcards
Challenges of testing
Bacteria not uniformly distributed
Food matrices interfere
Indigenous microbes (not sterile)
Pathogen of interest is in lower #s
Injury to pathogen (give time to recover before selective tests)
MPN
Dilution of food samples
9 or 15 tubes
3 or 5 replicates of each
Based on stats
Dilute to extinction
Higher estimate than colony counts
MPN scores for
Positivity
Total bacteria
Lactose fermenting
LST MUG
Why does broth have higher counts than plates
Easier to grow in broth than on a plate
More ideal to grow in liquid
LST MUG
Select for enteric
MUG cleaved by GUD ⇒ MU (add light = fluorescence)
Yields E coli count
Immunoassays
Antibody specific to antigen
Need specific antigen to organisms of interest
Inject in animal → make antibodies → use for detection
Agglutination
Lattice of antibodies and antigens
Mix colony w/ antibodies → clumping
Immunoprecipitation
Control and test lanes
Antibodies in the sample well
Complex and wick up the wick
Capture antibody captures if antigen is present
Immunoconcentration
Enriched sample
Add to test tube
Add metal beads w/ antibody attached
Mix + incubate
Use magnet to collect beads
Wash off unbound
Streak out (differential and selective)
ELISA
Enzyme conjugated to antibody or antigen
Wash, then react with the substrate
Shows a visible color change
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
have to do enrichment 1st
Need antibody specific to microbe
Sandwich Method
Enrichment 1st
Solid matrix (solid is charged) attached to antibodies
Put the enriched sample in well
Antibody look for antigens + capture it
Wash everything not bound
Add 2nd antibody with enzyme tag (same target, diff epitope)
2nd antibody attaches
Wash again
Add substrate
Colorimetric end product
Nucleic acid based
Pros/Cons
Sensitive, specific, fast
Need specific gene
Matrix interference
cost
Live vs dead
PCR
Denature with heat
Need specific primer (brackets target gene)
Anneal the primer to the strand
Add polymerase + replicate
Need Taq polymerase
Takes a few hours
Run a gel electrophoresis to analyze
TaqMan PCR
Removes running of gel with fluorescent tag
2 primers + 3rd probe bracketed by primers
Positive or negative result (fluorescence or not)
If tag is adjacent to the quenching agent → no fluorescence
Polymerase chews probe and releases components –> components spread out → fluorescence
PFGE
Pulsed field gel
Changes orientation to a zig zag pattern
Separate large lengths of DNA (long, tedious)
Contributions to variation
Insertion
Deletion
Recombination
Phage
Plasmid
Most discriminatory subtyping method
Sequencing
Ultimate method to identify differences btwn 2 isolates
Method consideration
Approval status
time
Cost
# of samples
Equipment
Microbiological criteria
Asses the
- Safety
- Quality
- Adherence to GMPs
- Suitability
of a food/ingredient for a particular purpose or target population
Standard
Microbiological criteria that is part of law, ordinance, or regulation
Guideline
A microbiological criterion used by the food industry and regulatory agency to monitor a manufacturing process
Specification
Microbiological criterion that is used as a purchase requirement between a buyer and vendor
Criteria: include
Identify of food
Identity of contaminant of concern
Method for detection
Sampling plan
Microbiological limits
Index organism
Organism that signals the possible presence of pathogenic or toxigenic organisms within a sample
Index Ex
Listeria genus, coagulase + staph, generic E. coli
Indicator organism
Organisms that reflect the general bacteriological quality or safety of a sample
Indicator ex
APC, coliforms, yeast, molds
Indicator characteristics
Easily and rapidly detectable
Easily distinguishable from other food flora
Consistent association with
pathogen whose presence it is to indicate
Growth/survival curve = that of pathogen
Present when pathogen is present
Absent in food free of pathogen
Possible specificity to intestinal tract
May occur in high # in feces
Coliforms
Gram -
Non spore forming
Rod
Ferment lactose to acid and gas
5 genera of Enterobacteriaceae
Fecal coliforms + safety
Coliforms that produce acid and gas (higher tem)
Primarily E. coli
Identify non bacterial microbes (viruses)
Indicators of quality
Usually specific
Yeast, mold, lactic acid bacteria
APC not as specific
Microbial sampling
Identify production lots within a level of confidence that are inferior or unsafe
Production lot
Quantity of food produced, handled, and stored within a limited time period under uniform conditions
Risk assessment considerations
Target population
Transportation and storage
Preparations
What microbes are found in what foods
Incidence
of positives per x samples
6% per 100 samples (ex)
Presence or absence
Level
Enumerate organisms
# of cells per x samples
Representative sample
Similar as possible to that of the lot from which it was drawn from
Random
Consistent and represent the entire lot
2n sampling plan
n = # of samples
m = max level of microbe
c = max # of samples with UNACCEPTABLE results
+ or - (yes or no)
3n sample plan
n = # of samples
c = max # of samples allowed with marginal results between m and M
Accept all below m
Accept c amount between m and M
Reject all above M
Agglugination Pros
Simple, no special equipment, fast
Agglugination Cons
Sometimes difficult to interpret, nonspecific reactions
Immunoprecipitation Pros
Simple, no extra equipment
Immunoprecipitation Cons
Not quantitative, subjective
Immunoconcentration Pros
Very rapid, enhanced specificity, adapt to almost any existing rapid method