Sensitive Listeria spp. immunoassay based on europium(III) nanoparticulate labels using time-resolved fluorescence

Aptamer-modified paper-based analytical devices for the detection of food hazards: Emerging applications and future perspective

Food analysis plays a critical role in assessing human health risks and monitoring food quality and safety. Currently, there is a pressing need for a reliable, portable, and quick recognition element for point-of-care testing (POCT) to better serve the demands of on-site food analysis. Aptamer-modified paper-based analytical devices (Apt-PADs) have excellent characteristics of high portability, high sensitivity, high specificity, and on-site detection, which have been widely used and concerned in the field of food safety. The article reviews the basic components and working principles of Apt-PADs, and introduces their representative applications detecting food hazards. Finally, the advantages, challenges, and future directions of Apt-PADs-based sensing performance are discussed, to provide new directions and insights for researchers to select appropriate Apt-PADs according to specific applications.

Antibody- and nucleic acid-based lateral flow immunoassay for Listeria monocytogenes detection

Listeria monocytogenes is an invasive opportunistic foodborne pathogen and its routine surveillance is critical for protecting the food supply and public health. The traditional detection methods are time-consuming and require trained personnel. Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), on the other hand, is an easy-to-perform, rapid point-of-care test and has been widely used as an inexpensive surveillance tool. In recent times, nucleic acid-based lateral flow immunoassays (NALFIA) are also developed to improve sensitivity and specificity. A significant improvement in lateral flow-based assays has been reported in recent years, especially the ligands (antibodies, nucleic acids, aptamers, bacteriophage), labeling molecules, and overall assay configurations to improve detection sensitivity, specificity, and automated interpretation of results. In most commercial applications, LFIA has been used with enriched food/environmental samples to ensure detection of live cells thus prolonging the assay time to 24-48 h; however, with the recent improvement in LFIA sensitivity, results can be obtained in less than 8 h with shortened and improved enrichment practices. Incorporation of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and/or immunomagnetic separation could significantly improve LFIA sensitivity for near-real-time point-of-care detection of L. monocytogenes for food safety and public health applications.

Selection of aptamers targeted to food-borne pathogenic bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) is a common marine halophilic food-borne pathogen, mainly found in seafood and food with a high salt content. Gastrointestinal reactions such as diarrhea, headache, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal cramps may occur after eating food infected with Vp. This study aimed to screen for high-affinity aptamers that specifically recognize Vp. A high-affinity modified aptamer screening kit was used to rapidly screen aptamers of the food-borne Vp. The first round of screening involved release of target aptamers from the microspheres. The "false-positive" aptamers were eliminated after specific binding to and elution of Vp in the second round. The second round of screening of the aptamers involved polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the abundance of a sequence was determined using next-generation sequencing. Nine high-affinity aptamer sequences were obtained, and the first eight modified aptamer sequences were derived using a cloud-based intelligent software of the American AM Biotech Co. Escherichia coli (E. coli) was used as a control, and aptamer ID 12 with the highest affinity for Vp was selected using real-time PCR. According to the principle of color change caused by nano-gold condensing under salt induction, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), and E. coli were used as counter-screening bacteria, and the aptamer ID12 was combined with nano-gold. The results showed that aptamer ID12 has strong specificity for Vp. Based on these findings, this study developed a simple, innovative, and rapid method for screening Vp aptamers.

PlcA-based nanofabricated electrochemical DNA biosensor for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in raw milk samples

The electrochemical DNA biosensor has been developed for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in raw milk samples. The electrochemical studies of the developed biosensor was recorded by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance (EI) using methylene blue (MB) and potassium ferricyanide K₃Fe(CN)^- ₆ as redox indicators. The selectivity of the developed biosensor was demonstrated using complementary and mismatch oligonucleotide sequences. The sensitivity (S) of the developed sensor was recorded as 3461 (μA/cm²)/ng and limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 82 fg/6 µl with the regression coefficient (R ²) 0.941 using CV. The sensor was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The electrode was found to be stable for six months, with only 10% loss in the initial CV current.

Capacity of blood plasma is higher in birds breeding in radioactively contaminated areas

Background

Environmental pollution in general, and radioactive contamination in particular, may deeply affect host-parasite relationships and their consequences for the evolution of organisms. The nuclear accident that occurred more than 30 years ago in Chernobyl resulted in significant changes in diversity and richness of microbial communities that could influence characteristics of animal-bacteria interactions, including host immune responses and competitive interference by bacteria. Given the high mortality rate of birds breeding in radioactively contaminated zones, those with stronger defences against infections should experience significant fitness advantages.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Here we characterized antimicrobial capacity of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) from different Ukrainian populations (subject to a gradient of ionizing radiation) against 12 bacterial species. We also quantified constitutive innate immunity, which is the non-specific first barrier of protection of hosts against microbial parasites. We found a positive association between specific antimicrobial capacity of individual hosts and radiation levels in breeding habitats even after controlling for other confounding variables such as sex and age. However, no significant relationship was found between immunocompetence (non-specific response) and background radiation.

Conclusions/Significance

These results suggest that radiation selects for broad antimicrobial spectra of barn swallows, although not for all bacterial strains. We discuss these results in the framework of host-parasite evolution under extreme environmental conditions.

Recent Advancements in Nanobioassays and Nanobiosensors for Foodborne Pathogenic Bacteria Detection

Bacterial pathogens are one of the leading causes of food safety incidents and product recalls worldwide. Timely detection and identification of microbial contamination in agricultural and food products is crucial for disease prevention and outbreak investigation. In efforts to improve and/or replace time-consuming and laborious "gold standards" for pathogen detection, numerous alternative rapid methods have been proposed in the past 15 years, with a trend toward incorporating nanotechnology and nanomaterials in food pathogen detection. This article is a review of the use of nanotechnology in various detection and sample preparation techniques and advancements in nanotechnology applications in food matrices. Some practical considerations in nanobioassay design are discussed, and the gaps between research status quo and market demands are identified.

Listeriosis in animals, its public health significance (food-borne zoonosis) and advances in diagnosis and control: a comprehensive review

Listeriosis is an infectious and fatal disease of animals, birds, fish, crustaceans and humans. It is an important food-borne zoonosis caused by Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular pathogen with unique potential to spread from cell to cell, thereby crossing blood-brain, intestinal and placental barriers. The organism possesses a pile of virulence factors that help to infect the host and evade from host immune machinery. Though disease occurrence is sporadic throughout the world, it can result in severe damage during an outbreak. Listeriosis is characterized by septicaemia, encephalitis, meningitis, meningoencephalitis, abortion, stillbirth, perinatal infections and gastroenteritis with the incubation period varying with the form of infection. L. monocytogenes has been isolated worldwide from humans, animals, poultry, environmental sources like soil, river, decaying plants, and food sources like milk, meat and their products, seafood and vegetables. Since appropriate vaccines are not available and infection is mainly transmitted through foods in humans and animals, hygienic practices can prevent its spread. The present review describes etiology, epidemiology, transmission, clinical signs, post-mortem lesions, pathogenesis, public health significance, and advances in diagnosis, vaccines and treatment of this disease. Special attention has been given to novel as well as prospective emerging therapies that include bacteriophage and cytokine therapy, avian egg yolk antibodies and herbal therapy. Various vaccines, including advances in recombinant and DNA vaccines and their modes of eliciting immune response, are also discussed. Due focus has also been given regarding appropriate prevention and control strategies to be adapted for better management of this zoonotic disease.

Lanthanide-based time-resolved luminescence immunoassays

The sensitive and specific detection of analytes such as proteins in biological samples is critical for a variety of applications, for example disease diagnosis. In immunoassays a signal in response to the concentration of analyte present is generated by use of antibodies labeled with radioisotopes, luminophores, or enzymes. All immunoassays suffer to some extent from the problem of the background signal observed in the absence of analyte, which limits the sensitivity and dynamic range that can be achieved. This is especially the case for homogeneous immunoassays and surface measurements on tissue sections and membranes, which typically have a high background because of sample autofluorescence. One way of minimizing background in immunoassays involves the use of lanthanide chelate labels. Luminescent lanthanide complexes have exceedingly long-lived luminescence in comparison with conventional fluorophores, enabling the short-lived background interferences to be removed via time-gated acquisition and delivering greater assay sensitivity and a broader dynamic range. This review highlights the potential of using lanthanide luminescence to design sensitive and specific immunoassays. Techniques for labeling biomolecules with lanthanide chelate tags are discussed, with aspects of chelate design. Microtitre plate-based heterogeneous and homogeneous assays are reviewed and compared in terms of sensitivity, dynamic range, and convenience. The great potential of surface-based time-resolved imaging techniques for biomolecules on gels, membranes, and tissue sections using lanthanide tracers in proteomics applications is also emphasized.

Time-resolved fluorescent resonance energy transfer assay for simple and rapid detection of anti-Brucella antibodies in ruminant serum samples

Brucellosis is a globally significant zoonosis, the control of which is difficult and resource intensive. Serological tests form a vital part of a multifactorial approach to control and are often performed in large numbers. The aim of the present study was to develop a new assay to improve the efficiency, ease, and effectiveness of serological testing. An existing competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was adapted to a completely homogeneous time-resolved fluorescent resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) assay. This was achieved by labeling an anti-Brucella monoclonal antibody with a long-lifetime donor fluorophore and Brucella smooth lipopolysaccharide with a compatible acceptor and optimizing the reading conditions. The assay was performed in a 96-well plate with a single 30-min incubation period and no separation (wash) steps and was concluded by a single plate-reading step. The performance of the assay was evaluated with a panel of serum samples from infected (n = 73) and uninfected (n = 480) sources and compared to the performance of the parent cELISA, an indirect ELISA (iELISA), and fluorescence polarization assay (FPA). The performance of the TR-FRET assay matched the performance of the iELISA, which had 100% diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, and surpassed the performance of the cELISA and the FPA. The results also demonstrated that the TR-FRET technique is effective with poor-quality serum samples from the field. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first homogeneous TR-FRET assay to detect antibodies raised against an infectious disease. The technique appears to be sufficiently adaptable to meet the needs of many other similar testing requirements to identify infectious diseases.

Enhanced rapidity for qualitative detection of Listeria monocytogenes using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunochromatography strip test combined with immunomagnetic bead separation

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunochromatography (ICG) strip test, and immunomagnetic bead separation (IMBS) system based on a monoclonal antibody were individually developed for the detection and isolation of Listeria monocytogenes in meat samples. The three methods showed a strong reaction with Listeria species and a weak reaction with Staphylococcus aureus. To increase the rapidity of L. monocytogenes detection, combinations of the ELISA and ICG strip test with the IMBS system (ELISA-IMBS and ICG-IMBS) were investigated. In comparative analyses of artificially inoculated meat and samples of processed meat, the ELISA and ICG strip test required 24 h of enrichment time to detect the inoculated meat samples with > or =1 X 10(2) CFU/10 g, whereas the ELISA-IMBS and ICG-IMBS required only 14 h of enrichment. Analyses of naturally contaminated meat samples (30 pork samples, 20 beef samples, 26 chicken samples, 20 fish samples, and 20 processed meat samples) performed by ELISA-IMBS, ICG-IMBS, and API kit produced similar results. The ELISA-IMBS and ICG-IMBS provide a more rapid assay than the individual ELISA and the ICG strip test and are appropriate for rapid and qualitative detection of L. monocytogenes (or Listeria species) in meat samples. With the ICG-IMBS, L. monocytogenes could be detected in meat samples within 15 h and the method has potential as a rapid, cost-effective on-site screening tool for the detection of L. monocytogenes in food samples and agricultural products at a minimum detection level of approximately 100 CFU/10 g.

Particulate and soluble Eu(III)-chelates as donor labels in homogeneous fluorescence resonance energy transfer based immunoassay

Many well-established homogeneous separation free immunoassays rely on particulate label technologies. Particles generally contain a high concentration of the embedded label and they have a large surface area, which enables conjugation of a large amount of protein per particle. Eu(III)-chelate dyed nanoparticles have been successfully used as labels in heterogeneous and homogeneous immunoassays. In this study, we compared the characteristics of two homogeneous competitive immunoassays using either soluble Eu(III)-chelates or polystyrene particles containing Eu(III)-chelates as donors in a fluorescence resonance energy transfer based assay. The use of the particulate label significantly increased the obtained sensitized emission, which was generated by a single binding event. This was due to the extremely high specific activity of the nanoparticle label and also in some extent the longer Förster radius between the donor and the acceptor. The amount of the binder protein used in the assay could be decreased by 10-fold without impairing the obtainable sensitized emission, which subsequently led to improved assay sensitivity. The optimized assay using particulate donor had the lowest limit of detection (calculated using 3 x S.D. of the 0 nM standard) 50pM of estradiol in the assay well, which was approximately 20-fold more sensitive than assays using soluble Eu(III)-chelates.