PCR detection of Salmonella, Listeria

[Richa Behari]

Hi Folks,
	I am planning on developing a project on detection of food and
water contaminants like Salmonella, Listeria, Cryptosporidium and E. coli.
I want to develop a method by which I can detect these contaminants by PCR
amplification of the specific pathogen species using degenerate primers
for conserved genes eg genes for the rRNA etc. I would be grateful if anyone
has any pointers to good, reliable literature, protocols for:
1. Good DNA sample preparation so that good quality pathogen DNA can be
prepared with minimum host DNA and other contaminants. Lysis conditions etc.

2. PCR conditions and goodies that should be added to ensure minimum cross-
reactions and maximum specificity.

Thank you for your help.
Richa

Richa at leland.stanford.edu