Rapid detection of Salmonella in poultry supply chains is critical for timely risk management, but standard culture-based methods require multiple days to produce results. To address this gap, the authors developed a culture-independent molecular workflow that integrates target capture, nucleic acid amplification, and isothermal detection to enable same-day screening of poultry-related matrices.
The study was conducted by Hyungsuk Oh, Hyunsook Kim, and Kun-Ho Seo, affiliated with the Center for One Health at Konkuk University and the Department of Food & Nutrition at Hanyang University, South Korea. The investigation focused on two matrices relevant to poultry safety: chicken carcass rinsate and poultry feed.
The proposed workflow couples three core steps: immunomagnetic separation (IMS) to selectively capture and concentrate Salmonella cells from complex samples; whole-genome amplification (WGA) to increase the available bacterial nucleic acid template without culture enrichment; and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to detect the pathogen by amplifying a conserved genetic marker.
Samples used to evaluate the workflow included spiked chicken carcass rinsate and spiked poultry feed. The molecular target chosen for the LAMP assay was the conserved invA locus, a commonly used genetic marker for Salmonella detection.
Two LAMP readout formats were integrated and benchmarked in the study:
Fluorescence-based real-time LAMP, which provides kinetic amplification data and enables objective detection thresholds.
Phenol red–based colorimetric LAMP, which yields a visible color change suitable for low-resource or on-site screening where fluorescence instruments may not be available.
Both readout modes were evaluated within the IMS-WGA-LAMP workflow as alternatives to more time-consuming culture-dependent approaches.
Analytical performance was assessed using Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis as the spiked organism. The IMS-WGA-real-time LAMP achieved a detection limit of 10 CFU g-1 in both tested matrices, with differing detection rates:
In spiked chicken carcass rinsate, detection at 10 CFU g-1 was observed in 9 out of 10 replicates (90% detection rate).
In spiked poultry feed, detection at 10 CFU g-1 was observed in 8 out of 10 replicates (80% detection rate).
These results demonstrate a sensitive detection capability at low bacterial loads relevant for screening purposes. The manuscript indicates that both the fluorescence and colorimetric LAMP readouts were integrated and benchmarked, but specific comparative performance metrics between the two readout types beyond their inclusion were not reported in the abstract.
To evaluate specificity, the invA-targeted LAMP assay underwent inclusivity and exclusivity testing. The panel comprised 27 Salmonella enterica strains representing 23 serotypes and six non-Salmonella strains. According to the reported results, testing showed 100% agreement for the invA target across these strains, supporting the assay's specificity for Salmonella detection in the tested panel.
The complete IMS-WGA-LAMP process—from sample preparation through amplification and readout—required approximately 5 hours. The authors emphasize that the workflow demands minimal equipment, positioning it as a practical option for on-site or near-site screening in poultry processing and feed environments where rapid results are advantageous for risk management.
The minimal equipment claim is presented in the abstract; details on the exact instruments and consumables used, or on the operational requirements for field deployment, were not reported in the abstract and would require consultation of the full text for specifics.
IMS-WGA-LAMP combining immunomagnetic separation, whole-genome amplification, and LAMP targeting invA offers a same-day, culture-independent alternative for screening Salmonella in chicken carcass rinsate and poultry feed. The workflow demonstrated sensitive detection down to 10 CFU g-1 with high detection rates in spiked samples, and showed full agreement in a specificity panel of Salmonella and non-Salmonella strains.
The reported end-to-end turnaround time of about 5 hours and the use of minimal equipment suggest suitability for rapid, on-site screening to support timely interventions in the poultry supply chain. The authors declared no known competing financial interests or personal relationships in the conflict of interest statement.
Note: This summary is based on the abstract and PubMed record of the cited article. Additional methodological details, full comparative performance data between fluorescence and colorimetric LAMP, and operational specifics for field implementation are not provided in the abstract and would require review of the full text.