Team:WLC-Milwaukee/Background

Background

Bacteriophage Based Biosensors

While the use of bacteriophages or their receptor binding proteins (RBPs) as a biosensor is not a novel technique, our bacteriophage tail biosensor is essential because it allows for the detection of E. coli using a colorimetric assay. Some previous studies using bacteriophages as a biosensor have required the use of fluorescence and portable flow-cytometry for detection [1]. While techniques such as these are highly sensitive, the instruments required for such detection are rarely accessible to the average person. Derda et.al. developed a technique which requires that the bacteria be infected with the bacteriophage before detection can take place [2]. However, our concept does not require and indeed it is incapable of infection. Thus, if any E. coli is present in sample, our sensor won’t affect the potential signal. In addition, our sensor will rely on a substrate and the use of horse radish peroxidase (HRP) to produce a detectable color change. This color change could either be observed with the naked eye at a testing site or quantified in a laboratory using photospectroscopy. Ultimately, there is a wide variety of bacteriophage based biosensor techniques that have been documented in the scientific literature [3]. However, very few of these diagnostic techniques have made any major impacts either in water testing or in other applicable fields such as medicine, agricultural, and food science [3]. Our project simply aims to provide a fast and easy to use alternative.

[1] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131466

[2] http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac400961b

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3442824/