Identification of colonies of cultured shellfish-associated Arcobacter species by Elastic Light Scatter Analysis

Stephen L W On; William G Miller; Emma Yee; Jennifer Sturgis; Valery Patsekin; James A Lindsay; J Paul Robinson

doi:10.1016/j.crmicr.2021.100033

Identification of colonies of cultured shellfish-associated Arcobacter species by Elastic Light Scatter Analysis

Curr Res Microb Sci. 2021 Apr 20:2:100033. doi: 10.1016/j.crmicr.2021.100033. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Stephen L W On¹, William G Miller², Emma Yee², Jennifer Sturgis³, Valery Patsekin⁴, James A Lindsay⁵, J Paul Robinson³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Wine, Food & Molecular Biosciences, Lincoln University, New Zealand.
² Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Albany, CA, USA.
³ School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, USA.
⁴ Department of Basic Medical Science, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, USA.
⁵ Office of National Programs, USDA, Washington, USA.

Abstract

An increasing number of Arcobacter species (including several regarded as emerging human foodborne pathogens) have been isolated from shellfish, an important food commodity. A method to distinguish these species and render viable isolates for further analysis would benefit epidemiological and ecological studies. We describe a method based on Elastic Light Scatter analysis (ELSA) for the detection and discrimination of eleven shellfish-associated Arcobacter species. Although substantive differences in the growth rates of some taxa were seen, ELSA was able to differentiate all the species studied, apart from some strains of A. butzleri and A. cryaerophilus, which were nonetheless distinguished from all other species examined. ELSA appears to be a promising new approach for the detection and identification of Arcobacter species in shellfish and may also be applicable for studies in other foods and matrices.

Keywords: Arcobacter; Elastic light scatter analysis; Identification; Shellfish.