ABSTRACT
The effective surveillance and precise identification of foodborne pathogens is a major constraint in maintaining food safety and quality as well as providing comprehensive information on the epidemiology of pathogens associated with food. The advent of the molecular approaches has provided a more efficient platform for a more reliable and sensitive approach in screening food for safety and quality. However, the delineation of a unique gene to be used in identifying all organisms demands careful selection. The conservation and variability of sequence regions in the 16S rRNA positioned this technique as a suitable candidate gene in determining genetic relationships at the genus and species level among the bacterial pathogens present in food. This chapter presents detailed information on recent molecular techniques using ribosomal RNA, available for application in accurate screening of pathogens, found in processed and unprocessed food products. Several successful utilizations of 16S rRNA marker for identification and phylogeny suggest its recommendation for wider application for sensitive gene detection of pathogens associated with food.
