ReviewRecentadvancesinquantitativePCR(qPCR)applicationsinfoodmicrobiologyFlorencePostolleca,*,HélèneFalentinb,c,SoniaPavana,JérômeCombrissond,DanièleSohieraaADRIADéveloppement-UMT08.3PHYSI’Opt,Creac’hGwen,29196Quimper,FrancebINRA,UMR1253,ScienceetTechnologieduLaitetdel’Œuf,65ruedeStBrieuc,35000Rennes,FrancecAgrocampusOuest,UMR1253,ScienceetTechnologieduLaitetdel’Oeuf,35000Rennes,FrancedDanoneResearch,91767PalaiseauCedex,FrancearticleinfoArticlehistory:Received17November2010Receivedinrevisedform14February2011Accepted21February2011Availableonline1April2011Keywords:QuantitativePCRReverse-transcriptionreal-timePCR(RT-qPCR)FoodmicrobiologyPopulationdynamicsabstractMolecularmethodsarebeingincreasinglyappliedtodetect,quantifyandstudymicrobialpopulationsinfoodorduringfoodprocesses.Amongthesemethods,PCR-basedtechniqueshavebeenthesubjectofconsiderablefocusandISOguidelineshavebeenestablishedforthedetectionoffood-bornepathogens.Moreparticularly,real-timequantitativePCR(qPCR)isconsideredasamethodofchoiceforthedetectionandquantificationofmicroorganisms.Oneofitsmajoradvantagesistobefasterthanconventionalculture-basedmethods.Itisalsohighlysensitive,specificandenablessimultaneousdetectionofdifferentmicroorganisms.Applicationofreverse-transcription-qPCR(RT-qPCR)tostudypopulationdynamicsandactivitiesthroughquantificationofgeneexpressioninfood,bycontrastwiththeuseofqPCR,isjustbeginning.Providedthatappropriatecontrolsareincludedintheanalyses,qPCRandRT-qPCRappeartobehighlyaccurateandreliableforquantificationofgenesandgeneexpression.Thisreviewaddressessomeimportanttechnicalaspectstobeconsideredwhenusingthesetechniques.RecentapplicationsofqPCRandRT-qPCRinfoodmicrobiologyaregiven.Someinterestingapplicationssuchasriskanalysisorstudyingtheinfluenceofindustrialprocessesongeneexpressionandmicrobialactivityarereported.�2011ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.1.IntroductionInthelasttwodecades,culture-independentmolecularapp-roacheshaveundergoneconsiderabledevelopmentinmicrobialecology.Te...
