Name: development of an electrochemical dna biosensor to detect a foodborne pathogen
Uploaded: 2018-06-03T12:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Development of an Electrochemical DNA Biosensor to Detect a Foodborne Pathogen at JoVE.com

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Universiti Putra Malaysia.

NOTE: All the chemical and biochemical reagents to be used should be of analytical grade and used without further purification. Prepare all solutions using sterile deionized water. Autoclave all glassware prior to sterilization.
Caution: Please use all appropriate safety practices when performing laboratory activities including the use of engineering controls (fume hood, glovebox) and personal protective equipment (safety glasses, gloves, lab coat, full length pants, closed-toe shoes).
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The critical steps in a framework for successful development of this type of electrochemical biosensor are selection of appropriate biological recognition elements for the transducer (nucleic acid or DNA here); chemical approach for constructing the sensing layer of the transducer; transduction material; optimization of DNA immobilization and hybridization; and validation of the developed biosensor using real samples.
Core to the successful development of a sensitive and selective electrochemi...

A major topic of public and scientific debate in recent years, food poisoning is mainly associated with 3 agents: microorganisms1, chemicals2, and parasites3. Contaminated food can cause serious health consequences in humans, especially in the higher risk group of those with weak immune systems, the elderly, pregnant women, babies, and young children4. With more than a million cases of acute diarrhea occurring annually in children under 5 years old in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, food poisoning is a major global disease5,6 and the World Health Organization has established microorganisms as the most important contributor7. Vibrio parahaemolyticus stands out amongst the most widely recognized virulent strains. Usually found in coastal, estuarine, and marine environments8, it is a Gram-negative bacterium, which becomes active in high salt environments, and causes serious human gastroenteritis when eaten in inadequately cooked, mishandled or raw marine products9. Additionally, existing medical conditions in some people make them prone to wound infection, septicemia or ear infection arising from V. parahaemolyticus10. The virulence factors of V. parahaemolyticus hemolysins are divided into two types which contribute to the disease pathogenesis: thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH) coded by tdh genes, and TDH-related hemolysin coded by trh genes11. The virulence markers (tdh and trh genes) of V. parahaemolyticus are mostly found in clinical specimens rather than in environmental specimens.
V. parahaemolyticus possesses the ability to survive under a broad range of conditions, rapidly responding to environmental changes12. Its proliferation mechanism escalates its hazard potential as its toxicity increases in parallel with cell mass13. Even worse, climate change is providing these bacteria with ample conditions to accelerate their cell population growth14. Due to its high frequency, V. parahaemolyticus needs to be monitored along the food supply chain, particularly in the trade and production of seafood since those products are where they are found in enormous quantities15,16 throughout the world. Currently the bacteria are identified and isolated using a range of methods including biochemical tests, enrichment and selective media17, enzyme-linked immunomagnetic sorbent assay (ELISA)18, pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)19, latex agglutination tests, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests20. These methods usually require qualified personnel, sophisticated instruments, and laborious techniques which do not provide information about contamination immediately. This severely limits the likelihood of promptly detecting harmful contamination and on-site applications. Rapid detection tools remain an outstanding challenge.
Biosensing is emerging as a promising option for the detection of foodborne pathogens because it offers a time-saving, cost-effective, practical, and real-time analysis method21,22,23,24. However, although there have been many positive results of analyte detection in spiked samples and standard solution using biosensors, there is still a lack of research applied to real samples either in aqueous mixtures or organic extracts25. Recently, electrochemical biosensors using direct and/or indirect deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) detection have received increased attention among scientists, due to their specific detection of the complementary target via a hybridization event26,27,28,29. These unique approaches are more stable in comparison with enzyme-based biosensors, thus offering a promising technology for miniaturization and commercialization. The target of the study reported here is to construct a fast tool that can detect V. parahaemolyticus with high selectivity, sensitivity, and practicality, based on the DNA sequence specificity during hybridization. Identification strategies involve the combination of polylactic acid-stabilized gold nanoparticles (PLA-AuNPs)30 and screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) in the presence of the hybridization indicator, methylene blue (MB). The potential of the developed detection construct is further explored using bacteria DNA lysate and fresh cockle samples.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Acetic acid</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>100056</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Chloroform</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>102445</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Diaminoethane tetraacetic acid</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>E5134</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dibasic sodium phosphate&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S9763</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Disodium hydrogen phosphate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>255793</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ethanol&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>16368</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gold (III) chloride trihydrate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>520918</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hydrochloric acid</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>100317</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Methylene blue</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M44907</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Monobasic sodium phosphate, monohydrate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S3522</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate-buffered saline</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5119</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Poly(lactic acid) resin, commercial grade 4042D</td>
			<td>NatureWorks</td>
			<td>4042D</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium chloride</td>
			<td>R&#38;M Chemicals</td>
			<td>59435</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium dihydrogen phosphate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P9791</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium hexacyanoferrate III</td>
			<td>R&#38;M Chemicals</td>
			<td>208019</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium acetate anhydrous salt</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S2889</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S9888</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trisodium citrate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S1804</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>T395-100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tris-Base</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>BP152-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2X PCR Master Mix with Dual-Dye</td>
			<td>Norgen Biotek</td>
			<td>28240</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Agarose gel</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>101236</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bolton Agar</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>100079</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bolton Broth</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>100079</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CHROMagar Vibrio</td>
			<td>CHROMagar</td>
			<td>VB910</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>dNTPs</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>U1511</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nuclease-free water</td>
			<td>Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td>R0581</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Eosin methylene blue agar&#160;</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>101347</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>GelRed</td>
			<td>Biotium</td>
			<td>41001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glycerol</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>104092</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Go Taq Buffer</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>M7911</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Loading dye 100 bp DNA ladder</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>G2101</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Loading dye 1kb DNA ladder</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>G5711</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Magnesium chloride</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>91176</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mannitol egg yolk polymyxin agar</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>105267</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>McConkey Agar</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>105465</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nutrient Broth</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>105443</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Taq polymerase</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>71003</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trypticase Soy Broth</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>105459</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trypticase Soy Agar</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>105458</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

development of an electrochemical dna biosensor to detect a foodborne pathogen

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is a common foodborne pathogen that contributes to a large proportion of public health problems globally, significantly affecting the rate of human mortality and morbidity. Conventional methods for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus such as culture-based methods, immunological assays, and molecular-based methods require complicated sample handling and are time-consuming, tedious, and costly. Recently, biosensors have proven to be a promising and comprehensive detection method with the advantages of fast detection, cost-effectiveness, and practicality. This research focuses on developing a rapid method of detecting V. parahaemolyticus with high selectivity and sensitivity using the principles of DNA hybridization. In the work, characterization of synthesized polylactic acid-stabilized gold nanoparticles (PLA-AuNPs) was achieved using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet-visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Field-emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). We also carried out further testing of stability, sensitivity, and reproducibility of the PLA-AuNPs. We found that the PLA-AuNPs formed a sound structure of stabilized nanoparticles in aqueous solution. We also observed that the sensitivity improved as a result of the smaller charge transfer resistance (Rct) value and an increase of active surface area (0.41 cm2). The development of our DNA biosensor was based on modification of a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) with PLA-AuNPs and using methylene blue (MB) as the redox indicator. We assessed the immobilization and hybridization events by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). We found that complementary, non-complementary, and mismatched oligonucleotides were specifically distinguished by the fabricated biosensor. It also showed reliably sensitive detection in cross-reactivity studies against various food-borne pathogens and in the identification of V. parahaemolyticus in fresh cockles.

Formation of AuNPs was revealed through the change in color of the aqueous solution with sodium citrate present. This caused the color to change from light yellow to a deep ruby red. The generation of PLA-AuNPs was confirmed from the UV-vis spectra (Figure 1) where the growth of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak was found at around 540 nm. The formation and existence of PLA-AuNPs was indicated at 500-600 nm wavelength ranges, depending on particle size...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Development of an Electrochemical DNA Biosensor to Detect a Foodborne Pathogen at JoVE.com

Development of an Electrochemical DNA Biosensor to Detect a Foodborne Pathogen

A protocol for the development of an electrochemical DNA biosensor comprising a polylactic acid-stabilized, gold nanoparticles-modified, screen-printed carbon electrode to detect Vibrio parahaemolyticus is presented.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is a common foodborne pathogen that contributes to a large proportion of public health problems globally, ...

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