Author(s)

Ana Paula Rocha da Costa, Mariana de Lira Nunes, Carina Lucena Mendes-Marques, Alzira Maria Paiva de Almeida, Nilma Cintra Leal

Departamento de Microbiologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, FIOCRUZ-PE, Recife, Brazil.

Rapid identification and characterization of Listeria monocytogenes are required for the food industry, epidemiological studies, and disease prevention and control. However, typing procedures are labor-intensive and time-consuming, and they require technical expertise, a panel of sera and reference culture strains or sophisticated and expensive equipment. To improve upon traditional diagnostic methods for L. monocytogenes we developed and evaluated an efficient procedure for the specific identification of L. monocytogenes and the major pathogenic serotypes of the species based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). Four individual reactions were designed using primers targeting any L. monocytogenes serotypes (LAMP-AS) and the 1/2a (LAMP-1/2a), 1/2b (LAMP-1/2b), and 4b (LAMP-4b) serotypes. The procedure distinguished L. monocytogenes from closely genetically related species and the targeted serotypes. Cross-reactivity with a few rare serotypes isolated from food or clinical samples did not impair the usefulness of the procedure. Thus, our approach constitutes a fast, easy and low-cost alternative for L. monocytogenes diagnosis and serotyping and may be useful for surveillance and epidemiological investigation programs.

Listeria monocytogenes, Diagnosis, Serotypes, Identification, LAMP

da Costa, A. , de Lira Nunes, M. , Mendes-Marques, C. , de Almeida, A. and Leal, N. (2014) Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) for the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes and Major Pathogenic Serotypes. American Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 5, 1057-1064. doi: 10.4236/ajac.2014.516112.