Supramolecular Electrostatic Nanoassemblies for Bacterial Forensics.

摘要

Microbial detection and identification are relevant to medicine, biosecurity, and the supply of food and water. Recent infections with enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (E. coli) highlight the need to quickly identify the origin of the pathogen and thereby minimize the impact of the outbreak. Tracking pathogens by their source and environmental history through genetic, proteomic, and traditional microbiological techniques is known as microbial forensics. The growth medium, temperature, pH, and related factors affect the membrane lipid composition of a variety of microbes. For example, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) variations have been observed for pathogens such as Salmonella anatum, E. coli O157:H7, and Yersinia pestis. Protein expression also changes with temperature, and modern proteomic techniques have explored this relationship. The techniques described above are useful for understanding detailed adaptations under various growth conditions; however they are not amenable to rapid diagnostic assays as they generally require sophisticated, non-portable equipment and may involve time-consuming sample preparation. Simpler methods of relevance to microbial forensics are therefore desired.