Recent Advances in Biosensor Development for Foodborne Virus Detection

Neethirajan, Suresh; Ahmed, Syed Rahin; Chand, Rohit; Buozis, John; Nagy, Éva

Enzymatic bioreceptor based biosensors are the second major categories of biosensors. They are well-developed and widely used in foodborne pathogen detection [74] . Enzyme-substrate binding is highly specific with special catalytic activities and provides sufficient electron transfer to an electrode of a biosensor. Three enzymes have been most popularly used: alkaline phosphatase, horseradish peroxidase, and beta-galactosidase. More detail is given in the enzyme sections below. Figure 5 . Schematic diagram of a biosensor [72] . Its bioreceptor recognizes target analytes. The transducer converts biological responses into equivalent electrical signals. Amplifier amplifies the low generated signal into a large output signal that contains essential waveform features. Nucleic acid bioreceptor based biosensors are the third major category of biosensors based on the complementary property of nucleic acid base pairs [75] . Nucleic acid bioreceptors are more specific and sensitive compared to antibody-antigen bioreceptors, while the latter is faster and more robust. Nucleic acids, mostly DNA, exist widely in virus pathogens, and their highly specific complementary property can be used for detection due to their unique DNA sequences. Compared to enzyme and antibody bioreceptors, nucleic acid bioreceptors can be regenerated and synthesised with simpler, faster, and cheaper features. Furthermore, DNA microarray technology using single-stranded nucleic acid aptamers can be used to identify and quantify foodborne pathogens with high speed and accuracy. Nucleic acid biosensors are based mostly on optical, electrochemical, electro-chemiluminescence, quartz crystal, and SPR conducers [76, 173] .