Detecting Fingerprints of Waterborne Bacteria on a Sensor

Abstract

Human fecal contamination is a crucial threat that results in difficulties in access to clean water. Enterococcus faecalis is a bacteria which is utilized as an indicator in polluted water. Nevertheless, existing strategies face several challenges, including low affinity and the need for labelling, which limit their access to large scale applications. Herein, a label-free fingerprint of the surface proteins of waterborne bacteria on a sensor was demonstrated for real-time bacteria detection from aqueous and water samples. The kinetic performance of the sensor was evaluated and shown to have a range of detection that spanned five orders of magnitude, having a low detection limit (3.4 × 104 cfu/mL) and a high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.9957). The sensor also designated a high selectivity while other competitor bacteria were employed. The capability for multiple usage and long shelf-life are superior to other modalities. This is an impressive surface modification method that uses the target itself as a recognition element, ensuring a broad range of variability to replicate others with different structure, size and physical and chemical properties.