Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteria Using Liquid Crystals
No Thumbnail Available
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an essential pathogen for public health and this bacteria commonly cause serious infectious in humans. In recent years, MRSA bacteria are detected by the bacterial culture and nucleic acid-based methods which are time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this study, a novel liquid crystal (LC)-based biosensing system was developed to overcome these limitations. The objective of this study was to detect the presence of MRSA bacteria which prepared within the isotonic water and phosphate buffer saline (PBS). In this system, the binding of MRSA bacteria to the dimettw loctadecyl [3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] ammonium chloride (DMOAP)-coated surface disrupted the orientation of I Cs. triggering a transition from a homeotropic orientation to a random one. This transition in the orientation of the LCs was observed as a change from a dark optical LC image to a bright one under a polarized light microscope (POM) and the reflection values of LC molecules were determined by using a spectrometer. Through this sensing mechanism, MRSA bacteria prepared within the isotonic water was detected ranging from the 9.2x10(3) CFU/mL to 9.2x10(7) CFU/mL concentration. Furthermore. Ni RSA bacteria prepared in PBS was detected in the concentration range of 7.1x10(4) CFU/mL to 7.1x10(8) CFU/ml by using this system.