• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.936-944
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• 2013

Cronobacter muytjensii is an important foodborne pathogen as a potential risk in infant formula powder (IFP). To develop a new and sensitive method for the detection of Cronobacter spp. in IFP, an immunoglobulin G (IgG) specific for C. muytjensii (formerly known as Enterobacter sakazakii ATCC 51329) was developed. Further, an indirect noncompetitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (INC-ELISA) was developed by using the anti-C. muytjensii IgG. As a result, this newly developed INC-ELISA method was found very sensitive for C. muytjensii with detection limit of $6.5{\times}10^3CFU/ml$ in pure culture and 1 cell/25 g of IFP. This INC-ELISA method also displayed excellent specificity for C. muytjensii showing no cross-reactivity with other strains of Cronobacter genus and 11 other foodborne pathogenic strains. These results show that the developed INC-ELISA method was very sensitive, efficient, and rapid for the detection of C. muytjensii. Hence, this method could be applied to the development of diagnostic kits for the rapid and easy detection of C. muytjensii.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.706-712
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• 2012

The present study was aimed to produce a chicken polyclonal antibody against Cronobacter muytjensii and to develop an immunoassay for its detection. Purification of anti-C. muytjensii IgY from egg yolk was accomplished using various methods such as water dilution and salt precipitation. As a result, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis produced two bands around 30 and 66 kDa, corresponding to a light and a heavy chain, respectively. Indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IC-ELISA) was performed to determine the effectiveness of the chicken IgY against C. muytjensii. The optimum conditions for detecting C. muytjensii by indirect ELISA and checkerboard titration of the antigen revealed an optimum average absorbance at the concentration of 18 ${\mu}g/mL$, having ca. $10^8$ coated cells per well. The anti-C. muytjensii IgY antibody had high specificity for C. muytjensii and low cross-reactivity with other tested pathogens. In this assay, no cross-reactivity was observed with the other genera of pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Salmonella Enteritidis and Listeria monocytogenes. In addition, detection of C. muytjensii in infant formula powder showed a low matrix effect on the detection curve of IC-ELISA for C. muytjensii, with similar detection limit of $10^5$ CFU/mL as shown in standard curve. These findings demonstrate that the developed method is able to detect C. muytjensii in infant formula powder. Due to the stable antibody supply without sacrificing animals, this IgY can have wide applications for the rapid and accurate detection of C. muytjensii in dairy foods samples.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.229-239
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• 2012

Cronobacter spp. (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii), a Gram-negative bacillus, is a rare cause of meningitis and central nervous system infections. In England, the first case infected by this organism occurred in 1958. By July 2008, approximately 120 documented cases of Cronobacter spp. infection and at least 27 deaths have been identified from all around the world in the published literature and in reports submitted by public health sectors. In 2007, it was proposed by European organizations that the original taxonomy of E. sakazakii would be revised, to consist of five new species moved to a new genus, and identified as "Cronobacter". E. sakazakii has thus now been reclassified as 6 separate species in the new genus, Cronobacter, gen. nov., within the Enterobacteriaceae family. The new species are presently Cronobacter sakazakii, C. turicensis, C. malonaticus, C. muytjensii, and C. dublinensis; the sixth species is identified simply as genomospecies I, as currently including only two representative strains. The objectives of this review are to provide insight on (1) the classification and taxonomy of Cronobacter spp., (2) its clinical etiology and pathogenicity, (3) prequency of Cronobacter spp. in different categories of ready-to-eat food other than infant formula, (4) methods for detecting, isolating and typing Cronobacter spp., and (5) recent research trends for detecting Cronobacter spp.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.509-514
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of Korean isolates of Cronobacter spp. (Enterobacter sakazakii). A total of 43 Cronobacter spp., including 5 clinical isolates, 34 food isolates, 2 environmental isolates, and 2 reference strains (C. sakazakii ATCC 29004 and C. muytjensii ATCC51329) were used in this study. Korean isolates of Cronobacter spp. were divided into 11 biogroups according to their biochemical profiles and 3 genomic groups based on the analysis of their 16S rRNA gene sequences. Biogroups 1 and 2 contained the majority of isolates (n=26), most of which were contained in 16S rRNA cluster 1 (n=34). Korean isolates of Cronobacter spp. showed diverse biochemical profiles. Biogroup 1 contained C. sakazakii GIHE (Gyeonggido Research Institute of Health and Environment) 1 and 2, which were isolated from babies that exhibited symptoms of Cronobacter spp. infection such as gastroenteritis, sepsis, and meningitis. Our finding revealed that Biogroup 1, C. sakazakii, is more prevalent and may be a more pathogenic biogroup than other biogroups, but the pathogenic biogroup was not represented clearly among the 11 biogroups tested in this study. Thus, all biogroups of Cronobacter spp. were recognized as pathogenic bacteria, and the absence of Cronobacter spp. in infant foods should be constantly regulated to prevent food poisoning and infection caused by Cronobacter spp.