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A bioassay platform using T4 bacteriophage (T4) as the specific receptor and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) as the transduction technique has been developed for the detection of Escherichia coli K12 bacteria. The T4 phages have been covalently immobilized onto gold surfaces using a self-assembled monolayer of dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) (DTSP). Substrates of BSA/EA-T4/DTSP/Au prepared using different T4 phage concentrations have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The studies reveal that the use of DTSP results in a uniform binding of T4 phages onto the surface. The SPR analysis demonstrates that these BSA/EA-T4/DTSP/Au interfaces can detect the E. coli K12 with high specificity against non-host E. coli NP10 and NP30. Results of SEM and SPR studies indicate that the maximum host bacterial capture is obtained when 1.5 × 10(11) pfu ml(-1) concentration of T4 phages was used for immobilization. The surface of these chemically anchored phage substrates can be regenerated for repeated detection of E. coli K12 and can be used for detection in 7 × 10(2) to 7 × 10(8) cfu ml(-1) range. The results of these studies have implications for the development of online bioassays for the detection of various food and water borne pathogens using the inherent selectivity of bacteriophage recognition.

Bacteriophages offer interesting alternatives to antibodies for the specific capture and detection of pathogenic bacteria onto biosensing surfaces. Procedures for the optimal chemical immobilization of lytic bacteriophages onto surfaces are presented. More specifically, the removal of lysate contaminants from bacteriophage suspensions by size exclusion chromatography significantly increases the resultant planar surface density of immobilized bacteriophages. E. coli T4 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium P22 phage systems seem to undergo highly heterogeneous adsorption to the surface, possibly explaining the observed phage clustering at higher surface densities. The T4 phage and its E. coli host were initially employed as a model system where we discovered an optimal planar surface density of phages for best bacterial capture: 18.9 ± 0.8 phages/μm2 capturing 18.0 ± 0.3 bacteria/100 μm2. Phage surface clustering ultimately limits the T4 phage-immobilized surface’s ability to specifically capture its host bacteria. Nevertheless, this is to our knowledge the largest surface capture density of E. coli reported using intact T4 bacteriophages. Two additional purified bacteriophage systems (P22 and Campylobacter jejuni phage NCTC 12673) were then similarly studied for their ability to capture their corresponding host bacteria (Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Campylobacter jejuni respectively) on a surface.