Rapid Detection of Campylobacter jejuni by Polymerase Chain Reaction and Evaluation of its Sensitivity and Specificity

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of food poising in humans. Rapid and specific detection of these bacteria has an important role in diagnosis and treatment of infection. The aim of this study was to design a specific PCR for the detection of Campylobacter jejuni.
In this experimental study, oxidoreductase gene from the Campylobacter jejuni was selected for rapid and specific detection. For this purpose, specific primers were designed and charecterized by bioinformatics software. Bacterial genome was extracted by phenol-chloroform method and PCR was optimized to obtain a specific product. Specificity of the designed reaction was investigated using six bacterial species. The sensitivity of the PCR reaction was calculated by the serial dilutions method.
The designed primer was specific to oxidoreductase gene of Campylobacter jejuni and after optimization, a unique 167-bp band was amplified. This primer was specific to Campylobacter jejuni and did not show any cross reaction with other bacterial genomes. The detection limit of this reaction was 5 pg of genomic DNA.
The optimized PCR used in this study was a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for detection of Campylobacter jejuni. For confirmation of this method, detection of C. jejuni from food samples is proposed.