Rapid Nucleic Acid Detection of Listeria monocytogenes Based on RAA-CRISPR Cas12a System

Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a food-borne pathogenic bacteria that frequently contaminates animal-derived food and low-temperature preserved food. Listeriosis caused by its infection has a high mortality rate and poses a serious threat to human health. Therefore, it is crucial to establish a sensitive, rapid and easy-to-operate technique. In this study, a Recombinase Aided Amplification (RAA) assisted CRISPR/Cas12a (RAA-CRISPR/Cas12a) fluorescence platform was established for highly sensitive nucleic acid detection of L. monocytogenes. The established RAA-CRISPR/Cas12a showed high sensitivity and high specificity, with the sensitivity of 350 CFU/mL and 5.4 × 10^-3 ng/μL for pure bacterial solution and genomic DNA, and good specificity for 5 strains of Listeria spp. and 14 strains of other common pathogenic bacteria. L. monocytogenes could be detected at an initial concentration of 2.3 CFU/25g within 2 h of enriching the beef in the food matrix, and this method could be applied to food samples that were easily contaminated with L. monocytogenes The results of RAA-CRISPR/Cas12a could be observed in 5 min, while the amplification was completed in 20-30 min. The speed and sensitivity of RAA-CRISPR/Cas12a were significantly higher than that of the national standard method. In conclusion, the RAA-CRISPR/Cas12a system established in this study has new application potential in the diagnosis of food-borne pathogens.