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Our partner, the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, is working to improve food safety. They have just published a novel multiplex real-time RPA method for the rapid detection of Listeria monocytogenes:
The development of novel methods for the rapid detection of Listeria monocytogenes is of high interest due to due to particular concerns about this its ubiquity, resistance to sanitation processes and high mortality rates resulting from infection.
The evaluation of a novel multiplex real-time Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) method including an internal amplification control is reported in the paper released in volume 92 of Food Microbiology. The method performance was compared to that of the European reference method (ISO 11290-1) for the detection of the species in samples from 40 commercial dairy products. A limit of detection below 10 cfu/25 g or mL sample was achieved, and values higher than 90% were obtained for relative sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values and the index (kappa) of concordance. Analysis was achieved within one working day, compared to the six days required using the ISO method. Moreover, slight modification of the ISO 11290-1 method to include secondary enrichment in half Fraser broth resulted in the confirmation of all positive samples.