Evaluation of Selective Enrichment Media for Detection of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli by Real-Time PCR

Abstract

A study on evaluating Preston broth and Bolton broth for reliable detection of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli from food samples was performed. Both broths were spiked with combination of C. jejuni and C. coli strains, and the growth of strains was determined by quantitative real-time PCR assay. The number of C. jejuni in Preston broth rose to 10^6-7 CFU/ml, while the number of C. coli ranged from less than 10 to 10⁶ CFU/ml. The number of C. jejuni and C. coli spiked in Bolton broth increased to 10^6-7 CFU/ml. The result indicated that the Bolton broth excellent ability for growth of broth C. jejuni and C. coli. Trial for detection of C. jejuni and C. coli from retailed chicken meat was carried out with culture method using Preston and Bolton enrichment broths and a quantitative real-time PCR assay. The result of trial showed that the Bolton broth has higher performance for detecting C. coli than Preston broth has, and Preston broth is suitable to detect C. jejuni. These results suggested that use of both Preston and Bolton enrichment broths for detecting C. jejuni and C. coli is essential, and a quantitative real-time PCR assay is useful for rapid detection of Campylobacter.