Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assays for Detecting Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli in Ground Beef and Human Stools

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), encompassing E. coli O157 and non-O157 STEC, is a significant cause of food-borne illnesses and deaths in the United States and worldwide. Shiga toxins (encoded by stx) and intimin (encoded by eae) are important virulence factors for STEC strains linked to severe human illnesses such as hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome. In this study, the stx(1), stx(2), and eae genes were chosen as targets to design loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for the rapid, specific, sensitive, and quantitative detection of STEC strains. The assay performances in pure culture and spiked ground beef and human stools were evaluated and compared with those of quantitative PCR (qPCR). No false-positive or false-negative results were observed among 90 bacterial strains used to evaluate assay specificity. The limits of detection for seven STEC strains of various serogroups (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, O145, and O157) were approximately 1 to 20 CFU/reaction in pure culture and 10(3) to 10(4) CFU/g in spiked ground beef, which were comparable to the results of qPCR. Standard curves generated suggested good linear relationships between STEC cell numbers and LAMP turbidity signals. When applied in ground beef samples spiked with two low levels (1 to 2 and 10 to 20 CFU/25 g) of STEC cultures, the LAMP assays achieved accurate detection after 6 to 8 h enrichment. The assays also consistently detected STEC in human stool specimens spiked with 10(3) or 10(4) CFU/0.5 g stool after 4 h enrichment, while qPCR required 4 to 6 h. In conclusion, the LAMP assays developed in this study may facilitate rapid and reliable identification of STEC contaminations in high-risk food commodities and also facilitate prompt diagnosis of STEC infections in clinical laboratories.