Abstract
For the detection of bacteria in potable water, several kinds of biosensors could be used. However, any of them faces its physical limits when very low concentrations of bacteria should be detected. In this article, we used micromechanical filters with perforated membranes for capturing and enriching bacteria and to facilitate the detection of Escherichia coli. The results in this article show ...
Abstract
For the detection of bacteria in potable water, several kinds of biosensors could be used. However, any of them faces its physical limits when very low concentrations of bacteria should be detected. In this article, we used micromechanical filters with perforated membranes for capturing and enriching bacteria and to facilitate the detection of Escherichia coli. The results in this article show the easy and effective removal of bacteria from the surface of the microsieve membranes. By plating off the filters on LB agar plates, we could quantitatively analyze very low concentrations of bacteria and show that micromechanical filters are potentially suitable for subsequent transfer of bacteria to a biochip for further analysis. In addition, direct immunodetection of nonpathogenic E. coli O157:H7 on micromechanical filter surfaces by fluorescent-labelled polyclonal antibodies is demonstrated. In summary, micromechanical filters present a promising tool for future detection of bacteria in potable water.
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