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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2005, p. 2626-2631, Vol. 71, No. 5
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.5.2626-2631.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Rapid Biosensor for Detection of Antibiotic-Selective Growth of Escherichia coli

Karin Y. Gfeller, Natalia Nugaeva, and Martin Hegner*

Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Received 20 September 2004/ Accepted 2 December 2004

A rapid biosensor for the detection of bacterial growth was developed using micromechanical oscillators coated in common nutritive layers. The change in resonance frequency as a function of the increasing mass on a cantilever array forms the basis of the detection scheme. The calculated mass sensitivity according to the mechanical properties of the cantilever sensor is ~50 pg/Hz; this mass corresponds to an approximate sensitivity of ~100 Escherichia coli cells. The sensor is able to detect active growth of E. coli cells within 1 h. The starting number of E. coli cells initially attached to the sensor cantilever was, on average, ~1,000 cells. Furthermore, this method allows the detection of selective growth of E. coli within only 2 h by adding antibiotics to the nutritive layers. The growth of E. coli was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. This new sensing method for the detection of selective bacterial growth allows future applications in, e.g., rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland. Phone: 41(61)267 37 61. Fax: 41(61)267 37 84. E-mail: martin.hegner{at}unibas.ch.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2005, p. 2626-2631, Vol. 71, No. 5
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.5.2626-2631.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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