Specific electrochemical phage sensing for Bacillus cereus and Mycobacterium smegmatis

The rapid and reliable detection of pathogenic microorganisms is an important issue for the safety and security of our society. Here we describe the use of a sensitive, inexpensive, amperometric, phage-based biosensor for the detection of extremely low concentrations of Bacillus cereus and Mycobacterium smegmatis as models for Bacillus anthracis (the causative agent of anthrax) and for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the causative agent of tuberculosis), respectively. The detection procedure developed here enabled the determination of bacteria at a low concentration of 10 viable cells/mL within 8 h. This experimental setup allows the simultaneous analysis of up to eight independent samples, using disposable screen-printed electrodes.