One-Step Detection of Salmonella by a Nanorobots Combined Endonuclease Signal Amplification with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Foodborne pathogens pose a great threat to human health. Sensitive and rapid detection of foodborne pathogens is crucial for preventing the food-borne diseases. In this work, a nanorobot was designed to combine endonuclease signal amplification technology with ICP-MS for the sensitive and one-step detection of Salmonella. When the aptamer on the nanorobots specifically recognized Salmonella, the endonuclease signal amplification was initiated to release Au NPs for ICP-MS detection. The limit of detection of 15 CFU mL−1 and the linear ranges of 50-40,000 CFU mL−1 were obtained by this proposed method under optimal conditions. This work only needs one step of magnetic separation to realize the sensitive and rapid detection of Salmonella, avoiding the complex procedures and contamination risks. And it can be applied to various types of sample matrix, including chicken, tomatoes, eggs and milk, demonstrating the great potential in practical application.

Keywords: ICP-MS, endonuclease signal amplification, nanorobots, foodborne pathogens