Use of molecular beacons for the detection of bacteria in microfluidic devices

摘要

We present the use of DNA and peptide nucleic acid (PNA) molecular beacons (MBs) as sensitive indicators in microfluidic bioMEM devices. DNA and PNA MBs can be used to quantitatively study hybridization kinetics in real time in a polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) microfluidic device. PNA MBs perform better than DNA MBs for the study of hybridization kinetics of rRNA targets in real time in microfluidic channels. We also demonstrate the use of PNA MBs for fast detection of bacterial cells in microfluidic channels. Using PNA MBs as detection probes will enable us to develop an integrated biosensor for the rapid and on-site detection and quantification of microbial pathogens in environmental and clinical samples.