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Title: Rapid detection of microbial cell abundance in aquatic systems

Journal Article · · Biosensors and Bioelectronics
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The detection and quantification of naturally occurring microbial cellular densities is an essential component of environmental systems monitoring. While there are a number of commonly utilized approaches for monitoring microbial abundance, capacitance-based biosensors represent a promising approach because of their low-cost and label-free detection of microbial cells, but are not as well characterized as more traditional methods. Here, we investigate the applicability of enhanced alternating current electrokinetics (ACEK) capacitive sensing as a new application for rapidly detecting and quantifying microbial cellular densities in cultured and environmentally sourced aquatic samples. ACEK capacitive sensor performance was evaluated using two distinct and dynamic systems – the Great Australian Bight and groundwater from the Oak Ridge Reservation in Oak Ridge, TN. Results demonstrate that ACEK capacitance-based sensing can accurately determine microbial cell counts throughout cellular concentrations typically encountered in naturally occurring microbial communities (103-106 cells/mL). A linear relationship was observed between cellular density and capacitance change correlations, allowing a simple linear curve fitting equation to be used for determining microbial abundances in unknown samples. This work provides a foundation for understanding the limits of capacitance-based sensing in natural environmental samples and supports future efforts focusing on evaluating the robustness ACEK capacitance-based within aquatic environments.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Joint Institute for Biological Sciences (JIBS); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1255343
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1326551; OSTI ID: 1480748
Journal Information:
Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Journal Name: Biosensors and Bioelectronics Vol. 85 Journal Issue: C; ISSN 0956-5663
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 11 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Cited By (2)

Sensitive Detection of E. coli in Artificial Seawater by Aptamer-Coated Magnetic Beads and Direct PCR journal December 2019
Capacitive Biosensors and Molecularly Imprinted Electrodes journal February 2017

Figures / Tables (6)

Figure 1(p. 27)figure Figure 1
Figure 2(p. 28)figure Figure 2
Figure 3(p. 29)figure Figure 3
Figure 4(p. 30)figure Figure 4
Figure 5(p. 31)figure Figure 5
Table 1.(p. 32)table Table 1.

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Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
biosensor
interfacial capacitance
AC electrokinetics
microbial abundance