PCR detection of Salmonella spp. using primers targeting the quorum sensing gene sdiA.

Bacteria communicate with one another and with their host using chemical signalling molecules. This phenomenon is generally described as quorum sensing. A set of primers for PCR detection of Salmonella spp. has been designed using as target the sdiA gene which encodes a signal receptor of the LuxR family. The PCR product (274 bp) was confirmed by sequencing. A number of 81 non-Salmonella strains (representing 24 different species) were tested and gave negative results, while a total of 101 different serotypes of Salmonella (155 strains) tested positive for the presence of the sdiA gene. The sensitivity and specificity of the sdiA-based PCR assay were also checked in artificially contaminated human faecal samples. In this study, we demonstrate that quorum sensing genes can be successfully exploited as diagnostic markers.