Invitrogen has effective solutions for the concentration and isolation of E. coli (Product) and other bacteria. The recent outbreak of E coli (EHC/VTEC) infections in Europe and the US highlights the need for an effective means of isolating E. coli (EHC/VTEC) from food and environmental samples.

Please see the Invitrogen standard method for E. coli (EHC/VTEC) Method, and the Invitrogen E. coli (EHC/VTEC) Publications listing. The Dynal products are already quoted in the USFDA Bacteria Analytical Methods Online , where it is stated that "Additional selective enrichment by use of immunomagnetic separation (IMS) has been found to be useful in the analysis of some foods, particularly those with high levels of competing microbial flora (29). Anti-O157 immunomagnetic beads (Dynabeads)."

Secondly, the article published in Int. Journal of Food & Microbiology, Pacific Regional Laboratory Northwest, US Food and Drug Administration, Bothell, WA 98021, USA. By S. Weagant demonstrates the efficiency of the detection of low levels of E. coli O157 from farm produce, stating "Plating after IMS was more productive than direct plating at these low levels of contamination, yielding recovery in 70 of 90 samples compared to 37 of 90 samples without IMS for six enrichments.

Invitrogen also provides a low cost and simple to use instrument for optimization/automation of this protocol the Bead Retriever platform:

• The Bead Retriever can process 15 samples within 25 minutes and is a true walk-away system.
• This unit is a completely closed system that does not generate aerosols, providing safety to your staff (eliminates biohazard spills) and confidence in your results (no cross-contamination)
• The United Kingdom Public Health Laboratories (38 labs) have made the Bead Retriever a mandatory piece of equipment for their SOP for testing beef for E.coli O157 and we have numerous units throughout North America (USDA-FSIS, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, two of the largest US meat packers/processors, renowned Universities
• Dynabeads® are considered to be the gold standard and industry leader in immunomagnetic separation (IMS) and our Dynabeads have been incorporated into numerous standard methods worldwide

Many people will pair IMS to the front end of PCR to eliminate indeterminate results and decrease overall pre-enrichment time. The additional bonus with IMS is that you can reserve an aliquot for culture confirmation for any PCR positive results.