(Press-News.org) Contact information: David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University
New test targets salmonella
Rice University-based research develops fast biosensor for pathogens in food
An array of tiny diving boards can perform the Olympian feat of identifying many strains of salmonella at once.
The novel biosensor developed by scientists at Rice University in collaboration with colleagues in Thailand and Ireland may make the detection of pathogens much faster and easier for food-manufacturing plants.
A study on the discovery appears online this month in the American Chemical Society journal Analytical Chemistry.
The process appears to easily outperform tests that are now standard in the food industry. The standard tests are slow because it can take days to culture colonies of salmonella bacteria as proof, or laborious because of the need to prepare samples for DNA-based testing.
The Rice process delivers results within minutes from a platform that can be cleaned and reused. The technology can be easily customized to detect any type of bacteria and to detect different strains of the same bacterium, according to the researchers.
The "diving boards" are a set of microcantilevers, each of which can be decorated with different peptides that have unique binding affinities to strains of the salmonella bacteria. When a peptide catches a bacterium, the cantilever bends ever so slightly, due to a mismatch in surface stress on the top and bottom. A fine laser trained on the mechanism catches that motion and triggers the alarm.
The system is sensitive enough to warn of the presence of a single pathogen, according to the researchers, who wrote that very low pathogen concentrations cause foodborne disease.
The idea springs from research into the use of microcantilevers by Rice biomolecular engineer Sibani Lisa Biswal and lead author Jinghui Wang, a graduate student in her lab. Biswal was prompted to have a look at novel peptides by her graduate school friend, Nitsara Karoonuthaisiri, head of the microarray laboratory at the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Thailand. Karoonuthaisiri is also a visiting scientist at the Institute for Global Food Security at the Queen's University, Belfast.
"She's been working in this area of pathogenic bacteria and asked if we have thought about trying to use our microcantilevers for detection," Biswal said. "Specifically, she wanted to know if we could try these novel peptides."
Karoonuthaisiri and her team had isolated bacteriophage viruses associated with salmonella through biopanning and phage display, a technique to study interactions among proteins, peptides and pathogens. She then derived peptides from the phages that would serve as targets for specific bacteria.
"She said, 'We spend a lot of time trying to characterize which of these peptides work the best. It looks like you have a platform that can do and quantitate that.' So that's where we came in," Biswal said.
The Rice lab compared the peptides' performance with commercial antibodies now used for salmonella detection and found the peptides were not only more sensitive but could be used in a multiplexed cantilever array to detect many different kinds of salmonella at once.
"The peptides are very robust," Biswal said. "That's why a lot of people like them over antibodies. The peptides can handle harsher conditions and are much more stable. Antibodies are large proteins and break down more readily.
"We're very excited to see where this will lead," she said.
INFORMATION:
Co-authors are researcher Josephine Morton and Christopher Elliot, director of the Institute for Global Food Security, and Laura Segatori, Rice's T.N. Law Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and an assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology. Biswal is an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.
The Welch Foundation, a Hamill Innovations Award Grant, the European Union's Seventh Framework Program and a Marie Curie Fellowship supported the research.
Read the abstract at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac403437x
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.
Related Materials:
Biswal Lab: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~biswalab/Biswal_Research_Group/Welcome.html
Laura Segatori Research Group: http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~ls15/segatori/Home.html
Images for download:
http://news.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/0121_SALMONELLA-1-WEB.jpg
Different strains of salmonella are captured by microcantilevers decorated with peptides that have unique binding affinities to different strains of the pathogen. When a peptide catches a bacterium, the cantilever bends ever so slightly, due to a mismatch in surface stress on the top and bottom. A fine laser trained on the mechanism catches that motion and triggers the alarm. The sensor was developed at Rice University. The technique could greatly simplify the food industry's tests for pathogens. (Credit: Jinghui Wang/Rice University)
http://news.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/0121_SALMONELLA-2-web.jpg
An array of eight microcantilevers, as seen under a microscope, is at the heart of a new technique created at Rice University to quickly detect many strains of salmonella. (Credit: Biswal Lab/Rice University)
http://news.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/0121_SALMONELLA-3-web.jpg
The box held by Rice University graduate student Jinghui Wang, left, with Rice biomolecular engineer Sibani Lisa Biswal, contains a tiny array of microcantilevers functionalized to detect a variety of salmonella pathogens. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceU.
New test targets salmonella
Rice University-based research develops fast biosensor for pathogens in food
2014-01-22
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
NASA still watching an amazingly stubborn, strong tropical low: System 94S
2014-01-22
NASA still watching an amazingly stubborn, strong tropical low: System 94S
The tropical low pressure area known as System 94S continues to soak Australia and NASA satellites continue to track its movements. NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites captured visible and infrared ...
UH researcher finds anonymity makes a difference with online comments
2014-01-22
UH researcher finds anonymity makes a difference with online comments
Study reports most anonymous comments online are uncivil
In a study titled, "Virtuous or Vitriolic: The Effect of Anonymity on Civility in Online Newspaper Reader Comment Boards," University of ...
New web-based course to prevent excessive weight gain may improve health in young adults
2014-01-22
New web-based course to prevent excessive weight gain may improve health in young adults
According to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
PHILADELPHIA, PA, January 21, 2014 – The transition from adolescence to adulthood presents individuals ...
Disadvantaged, non-college bound young adults at risk for excessive weight gain
2014-01-22
Disadvantaged, non-college bound young adults at risk for excessive weight gain
Nutritionists develop weight management program relevant to low-income population, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
PHILADELPHIA, PA, January ...
Desire to reproduce drives active nightlife of birds
2014-01-22
Desire to reproduce drives active nightlife of birds
URBANA, Ill. – For a non-nocturnal bird, the yellow-breasted chat spends a significant amount of time visiting other birds' territories during ...
Study demonstrates care managers in PCMHs increase improvements in diabetes patients
2014-01-22
Study demonstrates care managers in PCMHs increase improvements in diabetes patients
BOSTON – January 21, 2013 – Patient centered medical homes (PCMHs) have been found to be an effective way to help care for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes. Dr. ...
Study could lead to 'liquid biopsy' tests for bladder cancer
2014-01-22
Study could lead to 'liquid biopsy' tests for bladder cancer
MAYWOOD, Il. – Findings from a Loyola University Medical Center study ultimately could lead to tests to screen for and diagnose bladder cancer.
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common non-skin cancer. ...
Liquid crystal turns water droplets into 'gemstones,' Penn materials research shows
2014-01-22
Liquid crystal turns water droplets into 'gemstones,' Penn materials research shows
Liquid crystals are remarkable materials that combine the optical properties of crystalline solids with the flow properties of liquids, characteristics that come together to enable ...
Mayo Clinic scientists propose a breast cancer drug for bladder cancer patients
2014-01-22
Mayo Clinic scientists propose a breast cancer drug for bladder cancer patients
ROCHESTER, Minn. ― Jan. 21, 2014 ― Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found amplification of HER2, a known driver of some breast cancers, in a type of bladder cancer called micropapillary ...
X-ray diffraction technique 'maps' strain and crack propagation in metallic tubing
2014-01-22
X-ray diffraction technique 'maps' strain and crack propagation in metallic tubing
A team of researchers exploring the intergranular stress corrosion cracking of a type of metallic tubing used within nuclear power plants has developed a technique to both map and ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
National emergency wakeup call as SEND support system crisis worsens – latest analysis shows
New drug-eluting balloon may be as safe and effective as conventional metal stents for repeat percutaneous coronary interventions
Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of automated external defibrillators in private homes
University of Phoenix College of Social and Behavioral Sciences leadership publishes white paper on trauma-informed education
Microbial iron mining: turning polluted soils into self-cleaning reactors
Molecular snapshots reveal how the body knows it’s too hot
Analysis finds alarming rise in severe diverticulitis among younger Americans
Mitochondria and lysosomes reprogram immune cells that dampen inflammation
Cockroach infestation linked to home allergen, endotoxin levels
New biochar-powered microbial systems offer sustainable solution for toxic pollutants
Identifying the best high-biomass sorghum hybrids based on biomass yield potential and feedstock quality affected by nitrogen fertility management under various environments
How HIV’s shape-shifting protein reveals clues for smarter drug design
Study identifies viral combinations that heighten risk of severe respiratory illnesses in infants
Aboveground rather than belowground productivity drives variability in miscanthus × giganteus net primary productivity
Making yeast more efficient 'cell factories' for producing valuable plant compounds
Aging in plain sight: What new research says the eyes reveal about aging and cardiovascular risk
Child welfare system involvement may improve diagnosis of developmental delays
Heavier electric trucks could strain New York City’s roads and bridges, study warns
From womb to world: scientists reveal how maternal stress programs infant development
Bezos Earth Fund grants $2M to UC Davis and American Heart Association to advance AI-designed foods
Data Protection is transforming humanitarian action in the digital age, new book shows
AI unlocks the microscopic world to transform future manufacturing
Virtual reality helps people understand and care about distant communities
Optica Publishing Group announces subscribe to open pilot for the Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B)
UNF partners with Korey Stringer Institute and Perry Weather to open heat exercise laboratory on campus
DNA from Napoleon’s 1812 army identifies the pathogens likely responsible for the army’s demise during their retreat from Russia
Study suggests two unsuspected pathogens struck Napoleon's army during the retreat from Russia in 1812
The 25-year incidence and progression of hearing loss in the Framingham offspring study
AI-driven nanomedicine breakthrough paves way for personalized breast cancer therapy
Fight or flight—and grow a new limb
[Press-News.org] New test targets salmonellaRice University-based research develops fast biosensor for pathogens in food