Abstract

The present study is aimed to investigate Salmonella species in food of animal origin collected from Riyadh, King Saudi Arabia (KSA) using conventional methods and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), targeting fimA gene specific for members of genus Salmonella. Salmonellaisolation revealed 20 Salmonella serovars (8%) out of 250 examined samples. Nine strains (6, 92%) were recovered from 130 examined minced meats and 5 Salmonella strains (8.33%) were recovered from 60 local frozen chickens. Moreover, 6 Salmonella strains (10%) were isolated from 60 examined local chicken cuts. PCR using selective broth culture, Rappaport-Vassiliadis (RV) was used for the detection of different Salmonella species, targeting the fimAgene. All samples revealed positive results with bacteriological examination were positive by PCR-RV, and amplification of 120 bp fragments specific for fimA gene were observed, in addition, to 4 samples (1.6%) previously identified as negative samples with bacteriological examination were positive with PCR using the two primer pairs. The results revealed that the PCR-RV using primers specific for fimA gene could detect more positive samples ofSalmonella species than conventional methods for rapid detection of food borne pathogens.

Key words: Salmonella species, fimA gene, polymerase chain reaction- Rappaport- Vassiliadis (PCR-RV), frozen chickens, minced meats.