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A rapid and universal bacteria-counting approach using CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 composite nanoparticles as fluorescence probe

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Abstract

In this paper, a rapid, simple, and sensitive method was described for detection of the total bacterial count using SiO2-coated CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) as a fluorescence marker that covalently coupled with bacteria using glutaraldehyde as the crosslinker. Highly luminescent CdSe/ZnS were prepared by applying cadmium oxide and zinc stearate as precursors instead of pyrophoric organometallic precursors. A reverse-microemulsion technique was used to synthesize CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 composite nanoparticles with a SiO2 surface coating. Our results showed that CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 composite nanoparticles prepared with this method possessed highly luminescent, biologically functional, and monodispersive characteristics, and could successfully be covalently conjugated with the bacteria. As a demonstration, it was found that the method had higher sensitivity and could count bacteria in 3 × 102 CFU/mL, lower than the conventional plate counting and organic dye-based method. A linear relationship of the fluorescence peak intensity (Y) and the total bacterial count (X) was established in the range of 3 × 102–107 CFU/mL using the equation Y = 374.82X − 938.27 (R = 0.99574). The results of the determination for the total count of bacteria in seven real samples were identical with the conventional plate count method, and the standard deviation was satisfactory.

The synthesis and coupling process of CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 composite nanoparticles with bacterial cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Xin Fu, Kelong Huang & Suqin Liu

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  1. Xin Fu
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  2. Kelong Huang
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  3. Suqin Liu
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Correspondence to Kelong Huang.

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Fu, X., Huang, K. & Liu, S. A rapid and universal bacteria-counting approach using CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 composite nanoparticles as fluorescence probe. Anal Bioanal Chem 396, 1397–1404 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3352-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3352-1

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