[Detection of Yersinia enterocolitica in diarrhea stool by real-time PCR]

To establish a quick and accurate molecular biological method to detect the Yersinia enterocolitica in diarrhea stool as an alterative to the tedious and time-consuming culture methods.

Real-time PCR, using the primer-probe specific for the yst gene, was applied to detect the pathogenic (7 serotypes) and nonpathogenic (5 serotypes) Yersinia enterocolitica, other species of Yersinia (8 types), and other enteric bacteria (8 types). Additionally, 200 samples of diarrhea stool were examined by culture method too so as to test the consistency of these two methods.

Real-time PCR was 100 percent specific for the virulent Yersinia enterocolitica with the detection limits of 10(2) CFU/ml and 10(3) CFU/g for the pure culture and stool sample respectively. Of the 200 samples for comparison, 18 positive samples were successfully examined by both real-time PCR and culture method with a consistency of 100 percent.

Highly specific for virulent Yersinia enterocolitica without cross reaction to other bacteria, convenient to operate, and rapid to get the result, real-time PCR can be used as a quick method to detect Yersinia enterocolitica from diarrhea stool.