Specific Detection of Staphylococcus Enterotoxin B in Milk Using Piezoresistive Cantilever Aptasensor

In this paper, an aptasensor with high sensitivity and rapid response was developed for the detection of staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB) by using thiol-modified piezoresistive cantilever. Thiol-modified aptamers, acting as the functionalized sensing elements, were immobilized on the nanogold-coated surface of the sensing cantilever as agents for detecting SEB. By using the functionalized aptasensors, different concentrations of SEB were detected with a wide detection range of 6-100 ng/mL and a quick response in milk. The experimental results indicated that the cantilever-based aptasensors had sufficient sensitivity for the detection of SEB in real food commodities and might provide an economical platform for on-site detections of different toxicants with the advantages of portability, high sensitivity, and rapid response.

Biological agents in potable water

There are numerous biological agents including bacteria such as Brucella suis, B. abortus, Francisella tularensis, Burkholderia mallei, Coxiella burnetii, Yersina pestis, Bacillus anthracis and Chlamydia psittaci, viruses such as Variola major and V. minor, Flavivirus and Hantavirus, and toxins such as Botulinum toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus enterotoxin B and Trichothecene mycotoxin reported to have potential to cause illness via water consumption. In the recent years, biological threat prevention for urban water supply systems has been of special interest worldwide, thus, protection against biological agents requires adequate knowledge, available water treatment technologies and preparedness. In this review, the history of biological threat via public water supply, as well as selected early detection methods, prevention strategies and risk assessment models are detailed.