Escherichia coli

Having sequenced the genome of Escherichia coli O104, separate teams from Life Technologies and BGI said this week that they have developed PCR-based tests to detect the bacterium and help public health officials identify and track future outbreaks.

According to Dag Harmsen, director of research at the University of Münster, the quick turnaround time of the instrument made it possible to obtain results within three days. "The biggest advantage [of the PGM] from my point of view as a public health official is that it's speedy, and speed is what is needed at the moment," he told In Sequence.

The MicroSEQ Listeria spp. kit is the fourth MicroSEQ food pathogen detection kit sold by Life Tech's Applied Biosystems business to receive AOAC certification.

Life Tech's MicroSEQ E. coli O157:H7 assay; BD Diagnostics' BD MAX GBS assay.

Molecular Detection's Detect-Ready MRSA test; Diatherix Laboratories' GI panel; DNA test for early Lyme disease at Connecticut's Milford Hospital

EMLab P&K's E. coli and Enterococci detection services; Integrated DNA Technologies' PrimeTime qPCR assays