Current and Prospective Methods for Plant Disease Detection

Electrochemical biosensors for pathogen detection

Foodborne diseases are a major health concern that can have severe impact on society and can add tremendous financial burden to our health care systems. Rapid early detection of food contamination is therefore relevant for the containment of food-borne pathogens. Conventional pathogen detection methods, such as microbiological and biochemical identification are time-consuming and laborious, while immunological or nucleic acid-based techniques require extensive sample preparation and are not amenable to miniaturization for on-site detection. Biosensors have shown tremendous promise to overcome these limitations and are being aggressively studied to provide rapid, reliable and sensitive detection platforms for such applications. Novel biological recognition elements are studied to improve the selectivity and facilitate integration on the transduction platform for sensitive detection. Bacteriophages are one such unique biological entity that show excellent host selectivity and have been actively used as recognition probes for pathogen detection. This review summarizes the extensive literature search on the application of bacteriophages (and recently their receptor binding proteins) as probes for sensitive and selective detection of foodborne pathogens, and critically outlines their advantages and disadvantages over other recognition elements.

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/13/2/1763/pdf

Recent advances in bacteriophage based biosensors for food-borne pathogen detection.

Understanding molecular recognition is of fundamental importance in applications such as therapeutics, chemical catalysis and sensor design. The most common recognition motifs involve biological macromolecules such as antibodies and aptamers. The key to biorecognition consists of a unique three-dimensional structure formed by a folded and constrained bioheteropolymer that creates a binding pocket, or an interface, able to recognize a specific molecule. Here, we show that synthetic heteropolymers, once constrained onto a single-walled carbon nanotube by chemical adsorption, also form a new corona phase that exhibits highly selective recognition for specific molecules. To prove the generality of this phenomenon, we report three examples of heteropolymer-nanotube recognition complexes for riboflavin, L-thyroxine and oestradiol. In each case, the recognition was predicted using a two-dimensional thermodynamic model of surface interactions in which the dissociation constants can be tuned by perturbing the chemical structure of the heteropolymer. Moreover, these complexes can be used as new types of spatiotemporal sensors based on modulation of the carbon nanotube photoemission in the near-infrared, as we show by tracking riboflavin diffusion in murine macrophages.

/pdf/molecular-recognition-using-corona-phase-complexes-made-of-1n8lsn03go.pdf

Molecular recognition using corona phase complexes made of synthetic polymers adsorbed on carbon nanotubes

Recent advances in recognition elements of food and environmental biosensors: a review

Antibody-based sensors permit the rapid and sensitive analysis of a range of pathogens and associated toxins. A critical assessment of the implementation of such formats is provided, with reference to their principles, problems and potential for 'on-site' analysis. Particular emphasis is placed on the detection of foodborne bacterial pathogens, such as Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes, and additional examples relating to the monitoring of fungal pathogens, viruses, mycotoxins, marine toxins and parasites are also provided.

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/9/6/4407/pdf

Edwina Stack

Papers

Antibody-Based Sensors: Principles, Problems and Potential for Detection of Pathogens and Associated Toxins

Detection of the cyanobacterial toxin, microcystin-LR, using a novel recombinant antibody-based optical-planar waveguide platform.

Aflatoxins B1, B2 and G1 modulate cytokine secretion and cell surface marker expression in J774A.1 murine macrophages

Enhancing recombinant antibody performance by optimally engineering its format.

Biosensors for Sensitive Detection of Agricultural Contaminants, Pathogens and Food‐Borne Toxins