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Application of a Fluorescence Microscopy Technique for Detecting Viable Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis Cells in Milk

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to develop a fast and reliable fluorescence staining technique in order to accurately determine the number of viable Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) cells in milk. Milk was artificially inoculated with known amounts of four different MAP strains. Different dilutions were tested by the combination of 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) and auramine orange (AO) staining. To validate this combined fluorescence staining technique, two additional methods were applied: culture and the FASTPlaqueTB™ assay. The detection limit of the combined CTC and AO staining was 102 colony-forming unit (CFU) mL−1 for spiked ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk and 103 CFU mL−1for spiked raw milk (probability of detection >95 %). Combined CTC and AO staining provides the opportunity to determine the total cell count of acid fast bacteria as well as the number of respiratory active cells in milk within 8 h.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), support code 01KI1003E. Sandra Weirich was the recipient of a graduate scholarship from Justus Liebig University Giessen during this research.

Conflict of Interest

ÖA declares that he has no conflict of interest. SW declares that he has no conflict of interest. AA declares that he has no conflict of interest. KF declares that he has no conflict of interest. MB declares that he has no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Veterinary Food Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Frankfurter Str. 92, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Ö. Akineden, S. Weirich & M. Bülte

  2. Institute of Food Quality and Food Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173, Hannover, Germany

    A. Abdulmawjood

  3. Unit for Biomathematics and Data Processing, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Frankfurter Str. 95, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    K. Failing

Authors
  1. Ö. Akineden
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  2. S. Weirich
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  3. A. Abdulmawjood
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  4. K. Failing
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  5. M. Bülte
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Bülte.

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Akineden, Ö., Weirich, S., Abdulmawjood, A. et al. Application of a Fluorescence Microscopy Technique for Detecting Viable Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis Cells in Milk. Food Anal. Methods 8, 499–506 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-014-9918-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-014-9918-3

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