Sensitive fluorescent detection of Listeria monocytogenes by combining a universal asymmetric polymerase chain reaction with rolling circle amplification

Publication date: Available online 9 March 2019Source: Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical AnalysisAuthor(s): Zhongxu Zhan, Ju Liu, Leina Yan, Zoraida P. Aguilar, Hengyi XuAbstractA new, facile, low-cost, and highly sensitive method for detection of Listeria monocytogenes involving a combination of asymmetric polymerase chain reaction (aPCR) and rolling circle amplification (RCA) had been developed. The aPCR-RCA processes were not new but components of the processes made the assay useful. Twenty-one thymine (21-T) tagged forward primer generated universal twenty-one adenine (21-A) aPCR amplicons after aPCR amplification. A poly-T sequence dumbbell-like RCA template was produced through the blunt-end ligation activity of T4 DNA ligase. After the mixture of aPCR amplicons and dumbbell-like RCA template, the RCA reaction would initiate when the addition of phi29 DNA polymerase, then a large number of G-quadruplex sequences were produced which allowed the intercalation of Thioflavin T (3,6-dimethyl-2-(4-dimethylaminophenyl) benzo-thiazolium cation, THT) for easy fluorescence detection. Under the optimal conditions, the assay showed a limit of detection (LOD) of 4.8 × 101 CFU/mL in pure culture and 4.0 × 102 CFU/g in spiked lettuce homogenates. By changing the aPCR primer, the aPCR-RCA method developed in this study had a potential to detect other bacteria without the design an RCA template for each bacterium.Graphical Abstract
Source: Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research