Detection of necrotrophic DNA marker of anthracnose causing Colletotrichum gloeosporioides fungi in harvested produce using surface plasmon resonance

• Published in: Talanta (Oxford) Vol. 235; p. 122776
• Main Authors: Bajaj, Aabha, Shrivastav, Anand M., Eltzov, Evgeny, Alkan, Noam, Abdulhalim, Ibrahim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-12-2021
• Subjects: Anthracnose diseases; Colletotrichum gloeosporioides; DNA sensor; Food safety; Postharvest produce; Surface plasmon resonance; Surface plasmon resonance; Food safety; DNA sensor; Colletotrichum gloeosporioides; Postharvest produce; Anthracnose diseases
• ISSN: 0039-9140; 1873-3573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2021.122776

Agriculture and food crops monitoring is extremely important for securing the food supply chain to human society. Here, we developed a highly specific detection method for monitoring pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides using necrotrophic DNA biomarker as the recognition element and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) as transducing mechanism in the prism coupling configuration. The sensor shows its response for a wide range of concentrations from pM to μM of target DNA sequence using a complementary DNA probe immobilized on the sensor surface, which could detect concentrations as low as 7 pM. The detection limit is found to be comparable with conventional molecular-based detection platforms, achieved due to optimized spectral SPR bimetallic substrate with subpixel resolution obtained by post processing. The response time of the sensor for detection is less than 30 min at room temperature. The quick detection scheme of the sensor may facilitate the screening of a large number of samples acquired for the sorting of harvested produce. This sensor is fast, reliable, cost-effective, and can be miniaturized for portability for the screening of real samples (mRNA) in the field and packaging house.
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•Detection of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides fungus using necrotrophic DNA biomarker in post-harvest produce.•Development of facile and straightforward spectral surface plasmon resonance-based sensor for anthracnose diseases.•Specificity and sensitivity were studied with C. gloeosporioides fungus DNA sequences without the need of amplification.•The label-free sensor could reach a limit of detection of ~10 pM with subpixel resolution obtained by post processing.