Abstract
Bacterial contamination of indoor air is a serious threat to human health. Pathogenic germs can be transferred from the liquid to the aerosol phase, for instance, when water is sprayed in the air, such as in shower rooms, air conditioners, or fountains. Existing analytical methods for biological indoor air-quality assessment and contamination monitoring are mostly time consuming as they generally require a cultivation step. The need for a rapid, sensitive, and selective detection method for bioaerosols is evident. Our approach is based on the combination of a commercial wet particle sampler (Coriolis μ, Bertin Technologies, France) and a label-free microarray readout based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for detection, which was established in our laboratories. Heat-inactivated Escherichia coli bacteria were used as test microorganisms. An E. coli suspension was sprayed into the chamber by a jet air nebulizer. The resulting bioaerosol was dried, neutralized, and then collected by a Coriolis μ sampler. The bacteria collected were detected by a recently developed microarray readout system, based on label-free SERS detection. A special data evaluation procedure was applied in order to fully exploit the selectivity of the detection scheme, resulting in a detection limit of 144 particles per cubic centimeter.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fields BS, Benson RF, Besser RE (2002) Legionella and Legionnaires' disease: 25 years of investigation. Clin Microbiol Rev 15(3):506–526. doi:10.1128/Cmr.15.3.506-526.2002
Nygard K, Werner-Johansen O, Ronsen S, Caugant DA, Simonsen O, Kanestrom A, Ask E, Ringstad J, Odegard R, Jensen T, Krogh T, Hoiby EA, Ragnhildstveit E, Aarberge IS, Aavitsland P (2008) An outbreak of legionnaires disease caused by long-distance spread from an industrial air scrubber in Sarpsborg, Norway. Clin Infect Dis 46(1):61–69. doi:10.1086/524016
Wadowsky RM, Yee RB, Mezmar L, Wing EJ, Dowling JN (1982) Hot water systems as sources of Legionella pneumophila in hospital and nonhospital plumbing fixtures. Appl Environ Microbiol 43(5):1104–1110
Blatny JM, Reif BAP, Skogan G, Andreassen O, Hoiby EA, Ask E, Waagen V, Aanonsen D, Aaberge IS, Caugant DA (2008) Tracking airborne Legionella and Legionella pneumophila at a biological treatment plant. Environ Sci Technol 42(19):7360–7367. doi:10.1021/Es800306m
Alvarez AJ, Buttner MP, Stetzenbach LD (1995) PCR for bioaerosol monitoring - sensitivity and environmental interference. Appl Environ Microbiol 61(10):3639–3644
Jackson SN, Mishra S, Murray KK (2003) Aerosol MALDI for real-time detection of bioaerosols. Abstr Pap Am Chem Soc 225:U826–U826
Chang CW, Chou FC, Hung PY (2010) Evaluation of bioaerosol sampling techniques for Legionella pneumophila coupled with culture assay and quantitative PCR. J Aerosol Sci 41(12):1055–1065. doi:10.1016/j.jaerosci.2010.09.002
Langer V, Hartmann G, Niessner R, Seidel M (2012) Rapid quantification of bioaerosols containing L. pneumophila by Coriolis® μ air sampler and chemiluminescence antibody microarrays. J Aerosol Sci 48:46–55. doi:10.1016/j.jaerosci.2012.02.001
Sengupta A, Brar N, Davis EJ (2007) Bioaerosol detection and characterization by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. J Colloid Interface Sci 309(1):36–43. doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2007.02.015
Sengupta A, Laucks ML, Dildine N, Drapala E, Davis EJ (2005) Bioaerosol characterization by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). J Aerosol Sci 36(5–6):651–664. doi:10.1016/j.jaerosci.2004.11.001
Knauer M, Ivleva NP, Liu X, Niessner R, Haisch C (2010) Surface-enhanced Raman scattering-based label-free microarray readout for the detection of microorganisms. Anal Chem 82(7):2766–2772. doi:10.1021/ac902696y
Wolter A, Niessner R, Seidel M (2007) Preparation and characterization of functional poly(ethylene glycol) surfaces for the use of antibody microarrays. Anal Chem 79:4529–4537
Knauer M, Ivleva NP, Niessner R, Haisch C (2012) A flow-through microarray cell for the online SERS detection of antibody-captured E. coli bacteria. Anal Bioanal Chem 402(8):2663–2667. doi:10.1007/s00216-011-5398-0
Leopold N, Lendl B (2003) A new method for fast preparation of highly surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active silver colloids at room temperature by reduction of silver nitrate with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. J Phys Chem B 107(24):5723–5727. doi:10.1021/Jp027460u
Knauer M, Ivleva NP, Niessner R, Haisch C (2010) Optimized surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) colloids for the characterization of microorganisms. Anal Sci 26(7):761–766
Johnson DL, Pearce TA, Esmen NA (1999) The effect of phosphate buffer on aerosol size distribution of nebulized Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria. Aerosol Sci Technol 30(2):202–210
Rebuffo-Scheer CA, Kirschner C, Staemmler M, Naumann D (2007) Rapid species and strain differentiation of non-tubercoulous mycobacteria by Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy. J Microbiol Methods 68(2):282–290. doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2006.08.011
Lasch P, Diem M, Hansch W, Naumann D (2006) Artificial neural networks as supervised techniques for FT-IR microspectroscopic imaging. J Chemom 20(5):209–220. doi:10.1002/Cem.993
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schwarzmeier, K., Knauer, M., Ivleva, N.P. et al. Bioaerosol analysis based on a label-free microarray readout method using surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Anal Bioanal Chem 405, 5387–5392 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-6984-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-6984-0