Department of Biological Functions Engineering, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2-4 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu 808-0196, Japan.
Biosensors (Basel). 2022 Jan 25;12(2):68. doi: 10.3390/bios12020068.
In spore-forming bacteria such as and , the vegetative cells form highly durable hard shells called endospores inside the bacteria to survive as the growth environment deteriorates. Because of these properties, endospores can cause food poisoning and medical accidents if they contaminate food, medicine, or other products, and it is required for technology to detect the spores at the manufacturing site. In this study, we focused on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method for the sensitive detection of dipicolinic acid (DPA), a molecular marker of endospores. We constructed FeO/Ag core-shell functional silver nanoparticles that specifically bind to DPA, and investigated a method for the qualitative detection of DPA by SERS and the quantitative detection of DPA by fluorescence method using a terbium complex formed on the surface. As a result, the concentration of the functional silver nanoparticles constructed could detect spore-derived DPA by fluorescence detection method, and SERS was several tens of nM. The functionalized nanoparticles can detect DPA quantitatively and qualitatively, and are expected to be applied to detection technology in the production of food and pharmaceuticals.
在芽孢形成细菌（如 和 ）中，当生长环境恶化时，营养细胞会在细菌内部形成高度耐用的硬壳，称为芽孢。由于这些特性，如果芽孢污染了食物、药品或其他产品，就可能导致食物中毒和医疗事故，因此需要在制造现场检测孢子。在这项研究中，我们专注于表面增强拉曼散射（SERS）方法，用于检测芽孢的分子标志物——二吡啶甲酸（DPA）。我们构建了专门结合 DPA 的 FeO/Ag 核壳功能化银纳米粒子，并研究了通过 SERS 进行 DPA 定性检测和通过表面形成的铽配合物进行 DPA 定量检测的方法。结果表明，通过荧光检测法，所构建的功能化银纳米粒子的浓度可以检测到由孢子衍生的 DPA，检出限可达几十 nM。这些功能化纳米粒子可以对 DPA 进行定量和定性检测，有望应用于食品和药品生产中的检测技术。
