Article Abstract:
A recombinant derivative of Listeria bacteriophage A511, A511::luxAB, is useful in the detection of viable Listeria cells in food and environmental samples. This bacteriophage carries the gene for a fused Lux AB protein, inserted downstream from the major capsid protein gene (csp). The csp promoter starts transcription leading to the expression of luxAB. Homologous recombination between a plasmid with luxAB flanked by A511 DNA and phage DNA results in the introduction of the luciferase gene at a specific site.
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Article Abstract:
The amino terminal modification of 3 cloned Listeria phage lysin genes results in fusion proteins which can be overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to 90% homogeneity with high efficiency. The fusion proteins consist of 6 consecutive histidine residues. The recombinant enzymes retain their full specific activity. The modified lysins are used for rapid and specific detection of Listeria cells.
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Article Abstract:
The luciferase reporter bacteriophage system A511:luxAB can quickly detect the presence of Listeria cells in food samples. It can be used as an inexpensive alternative with identical results to the IDF standard plating procedure. The A511 virus is specific and infects only the Listeria cells and majority of the results are positive because the phage infects most of the Listeria cells.
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