Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a great concern in the medical community, as well as food industry. Soy peptides were tested against bacterial biofilms for their antimicrobial activity. A high throughput drug screening assay was developed using microfluidic technology, RAMAN spectroscopy, and optical microscopy for rapid screening of antimicrobials and rapid identification of pathogens. Methods: Synthesized PGTAVFK and IKAFKEATKVDKVVVLWTA soy peptides were tested against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes using a microdilution assay. Microfluidic technology in combination with Surface Enhanced RAMAN Spectroscopy (SERS) and optical microscopy was used for rapid screening of soy peptides, pathogen identification, and to visualize the impact of selected peptides. Results: The PGTAVFK peptide did not significantly affect P. aeruginosa, although it had an inhibitory effect on L. monocytogenes above a concentration of 625 uM. IKAFKEATKVDKVVVLWTA was effective against both P. aeruginosa and L. monocytogenes above a concentration of 37.2 uM. High throughput drug screening assays were able to reduce the screening and bacterial detection time to 4 h. SERS spectra was used to distinguish the two bacterial species.
Investigation of the antimicrobial activity of soy peptides by developing a high throughput drug screening assay
