Abstract
Aptamers are single stranded DNA or RNA ligands, which can be selected by a method called systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX); and they can specifically recognize and bind to their targets. These unique characteristics of aptamers offer great potentials in applications such as pathogen detection and biomolecular screening. Pathogen detection is the critical means in detecting and identifying the problems related to public health and food safety; and only the rapid, sensitive and efficient detection technologies can enable the users to make the accurate assessments on the risks of infections (humans and animals) or contaminations (foods and other commodities) caused by various pathogens. This article reviews the development in the field of the aptamer-based approaches for pathogen detection, including whole-cell SELEX and Genomic SELEX. Nowadays, a variety of aptamer-based biosensors have been developed for pathogen detection. Thus, in this review, we also cover the development in aptamer-based biosensors including optical biosensors for multiple pathogen detection by multiple-labeling or label-free models such as fluorescence detection and surface plasmon resonance, electrochemical biosensors and lateral chromatography test strips, and their applications in pathogen detection and biomolecular screening. While notable progress has been made in the field in the last decade, challenges or drawbacks in their applications such as pathogen detection and biomolecular screening remain to be overcome.
Introduction
Bacteria are microorganisms that are a few micrometers in length and morphologically described as rod, sphere or spiral. They can sense and respond to temperature and pH changes, nutritional starvation or new food sources, toxins, stresses, and quorum sensing signals (Salis et al., 2009). Pathogens are harmful species that cause infections and contagious diseases that result in many serious complications. Common bacterial pathogens and their complications include Escherichia coli and Salmonella (food poisoning), Helicobacter pylori (gastritis and ulcers), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (sexually transmitted disease), N. meningitides (meningitis), Staphylococcus aureus (boils, cellulitis, abscesses, wound infections, toxic shock syndromes, pneumonia, and food poisoning), and Streptococcus spp. (pneumonia, meningitis, ear infections, and pharyngitis). Worldwide, infectious diseases account for nearly 40% of the estimated total 50 million deaths annually ().
Detection and identification of microbial pathogens are crucial for public health and food safety (). Areas where detection of microbial pathogens is critical include clinical diagnosis, water and environmental analysis, food safety and biodefense. Currently, microbial culture-based tests and molecular assays (immunological or nucleic acid technologies) are among the most commonly used methodologies in detection and identification of microbial pathogens (Torres-Chavolla and Alocilja, 2009).
Aptamers are single stranded DNA or RNA ligands that can be selected for different targets starting from a huge library of molecules containing randomly created sequences (Tombelli et al., 2005); and these specifically selected nucleic acid sequences can bind to a wide range of non-nucleic acid targets with high affinity and specificity (). Aptamers usually vary in length from 25 to 90 bases, and their typical structural motifs can be classified into stems (Tok and Cho, 2000), internal loops, purine-rich bulges, hairpin structures, hairpins, pseudoknots (Tuerk et al., 1992), kissing complexes (), or G-quadruplex structures (). The unique characteristics of aptamers such as their highly specific binding affinity to non-nucleic acid targets offer great potentials in the development of fast and efficient point-of-care assays for pathogen detection ().
The selection process of aptamers is called systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), which was developed by two independent groups in 1990 (; Tuerk and Gold, 1990). Such work laid out the foundation for later developments of aptamers and aptamer-based technologies. Since then, SELEX has become a vital tool in selection of aptamers, transforming the great potential of aptamers and their related technologies in pathogen detection and biomolecular screening to a reality.
Selection of Aptamers Against Bacterial Pathogens
Conventional SELEX
Aptamers is evolved via an iterative process of SELEX (). The methodology consists screening large random oligonucleotide libraries through iterative cycles of in vitro selection and enzymatic amplification (; Tuerk and Gold, 1990). Briefly, the selection consists of numerous cycles, and each cycle includes three steps: (i) an in vitro synthesized DNA or RNA library is incubated with the target; (ii) the target-bound and unbound nucleic-acid sequences are separated and the sequences that are not bound to the target are removed; and (iii) the target-bound sequences are used as the template for the subsequent PCR amplification. The selected sequences are used as the inputs in the next round of selection; and such selection cycle will continue until the desired sequence purity is achieved. In general, a random oligonucleotide library contains 40–100 single-stranded nucleotide sequences with a randomized stretch of nucleotide in the center and fixed sequences on each end. As many as 20 rounds of selection are carried out until a pool of aptamer sequences with high target affinity is obtained. These aptamers can then be cloned and sequenced (). After SELEX technology was established, a variety of aptamer-based methodologies have been developed for pathogen detection and biomolecular screening.
Most of the aptamers selected against pathogenic bacteria have been evolved using the conventional SELEX procedures as demonstrated in Figure 1 (Zhang et al., 2015). Zhang et al. (2015) described the selection of DNA aptamers targeted E. coli. Two high-affinity aptamers to E. coli was obtained with totally eight rounds of SELEX selections. Furthermore, these conventional SELEX procedures have been used in the detection of various pathogens such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus (), Salmonella typhimurium (), Listeria monocytogenes (). These aptamers to a single bacterial species can be created within 10 rounds of selection, while those to multiple bacterial species also can be achieved within 20 rounds of selection as shown by the aptamer selection scheme in Figure 2 (). As a result, achieved selection of aptamers against various M-types of S. pyogenes by using these SELEX procedures rather than the conventional aptamer selection procedures, which use purified molecules of monoclonal cells as targets. It turned out that the aptamers selected through these procedures demonstrated high affinity and specificity to the targets ().
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
Other Types of Selexs
Whole-Cell SELEX
In addition to the conventional SELEX method, several novel SELEX methods have been developed. For example, a series of studies aimed to shorten the selection rounds in the aptamer manufacturing process. As a result, various methodologies with single round aptamer selection procedure have been developed, e.g., the ASExp (Aptamer Selection Express) method, which uses the magnetic mechanism for separation with microbeads (
A method called artificially expanded genetic information systems-SELEX (AEGIS-SELEX) was introduced in 2014 (Sefah et al., 2014). As the name suggests, this method uses artificially expanded genetic information systems for aptamer selection. An AEGIS-SELEX is started with a GACTZP DNA library, consisting of randomized sequences, primer sites and two modified nucleotides (ZP); and then a standard protocol for whole-cell SELEX is followed for the selection cycle. After the 12th selection round, the aptamers are sequenced and the aptamers’ affinity is evaluated. As a result, the AEGIS-SELEX method empowered the system with higher binding variations. The sequential aptamers can reach the nanomolar range and are expected to achieve higher sequence diversities nearer to that displayed by proteins (Sefah et al., 2014).
Genomic SELEX
Apart from whole-cell SELEX, SELEX can be generated in the nucleic acid level as well.
FIGURE 3

Illustration of genomic SELEX (
Additionally, a method called transcriptomic SELEX, which is similar to genomic SELEX, has been developed (
Applications in Pathogen Detection and Biomolecular Screening
Currently, aptamer-based detection methods can be used in public health and food safety are limited. A primary reason for that might be the complexity of the methods since these methods involve a variety of techniques in the sample preparation and detection processes such as sample’s extraction, purification, enrichment, and separation (Pitcher and Fry, 2000; Stevens and Jaykus, 2004).
Pathogen detection is important for public health and food safety. Three areas of application account for over two thirds of all research in the field of pathogen detection (
Aptamers and antibodies are commonly used reagents in various detection assays; the affinity of aptamers to their targets is comparable to, or even higher than most of the monoclonal antibodies to their targets; typical dissociation constants of aptamer-target complexes are found to be in the picomolar to low micromolar ranges (
Optical Biosensors
Optical biosensors are probably the most popular in bioanalysis, due to their selectivity and sensitivity. Optical biosensors have been developed for rapid detection of contaminants (Willardson et al., 1998; Tschmelak et al., 2004), toxins, drugs (
Label-Free Detection of Bacteria
Several techniques have been described that allow direct, label-free monitoring of cells at solid-liquid interfaces (
Fluorescence Detection
Fluorescence occurs when a valence electron is excited from its ground state to an excited singlet state. The excitation is produced by the absorption of light of sufficient energy. When the electron returns to its original ground state it emits a photon at lower energy (
FIGURE 4

Schematics of the present microbe detection system. (A) Preparation of aptamer conjugated fluorescence nanoparticles (A-FNPs). (B) Detection of A-FNP-bound E. coli by the microchannel and optical particle counter.
Surface Plasmon Resonance Based Detections
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors (
FIGURE 5

Flowchart of S. aureus detection using SERS (Wang et al., 2015). (A) Synthesis of monodispersed silver-coated magnetic nanoparticles and their conjugation with aptamer 1. (B) Synthesis of core-shell plasmonic nanoparticles (AuNR-DTNB@Ag-DTNB) and their conjugation with aptamer 2. (C) Schematic illustration of the operating principle for S. aureus detection.
Electrochemical Biosensors
Electrochemical sensors have several advantages over optical-based systems in that they can operate in turbid media, offer comparable instrumental sensitivity, and are more amenable to miniaturization. Modern electroanalytical techniques can reach an extremely low limit of detection (up to 10-9 M), which can be achieved by using small volumes (1–20 mL) of samples (
FIGURE 6

Schematic diagram of the aptamer-mediated electrochemical detection of live Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria (
Recently, a newly developed aptamer-based biosensor system has been developed to detect pathogen (
FIGURE 7

Schematic representation of dual-aptamer-based electrochemical sandwich immunosensor for the detection of S. aureus (
Lateral Chromatography Test Strips
Lateral chromatography test strips, whose mechanism is illustrated in Figure 8, are also widely used. For example,
FIGURE 8

Schematic illustration of isothermal RNA amplification and the configuration of the bioactive paper-based platform (
Numerous assays based on the specific binding of an antibody to an antigen, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Zunabovic et al., 2011;
Conclusions and Perspectives
In this review, we summarize the most commonly used SELEX methods in selection of aptamers against bacterial foodborne pathogens and the application of aptamer-based biosensors in biomolecular screening. Although SELEX advanced rather slowly initially, the selection of aptamers against pathogenic bacteria has been stably progressing in the last decade and nowadays, this technology has been evolved into a useful tool in pathogen detection and biomolecular screening. Initially, conventional steps and PCR were used in the SELEX procedures in the early years and then, several novel approaches and new biological materials were adapted in the SELEX procedures. On the other hand, targeting bacterial cells for detection purpose by SELEX also encounters some drawbacks, because bacteria’s highly variable and complex structures may influence the performance of aptamers. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to develop simpler and more efficient SELEX methods (requiring fewer rounds in selection) to generate specific and/or universal aptamers against various bacterial pathogens.
Compared to traditional antibody generation process, SELEX can efficiently generate specific nucleic acid probes against various analytes in a relatively short period of time. More importantly, the extraordinary properties of the selected aptamers, such as easy scale-synthesis, easy modification and long-term stability, make aptamers ideal alternatives to the traditional antibodies. However, improvement in aptamer selection efficiency by SELEX is needed in the future work. Also, other platforms, including magnetic separation techniques, array or microfluidic chips, can be integrated with initial SELEX to further widen the applications of this promising technology. For example, at present, biosensor-based detection technologies can merely meet the basic requirements for testing in the laboratory and clinic. Obviously, it can be expected that simpler, faster, more efficient, and more economic aptamer-based methods will be developed for pathogen detection and biomolecular screening in the future.
Statements
Author contributions
JT, FY, LZ, YY, LY, FX, and BL wrote the manuscript. WC and BL revised the manuscript.
Acknowledgments
This work is financially supported by the NSFC grant of 21475030, 31301460, the S&T Research Project of Anhui Province 15czz03109, the National 10000 Talents-Youth Top-notch Talent Program, the National and Zhejiang Public Benefit Research Project (201313010, 2014C32051).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
aptamers, SELEX, ligands, aptamer-based biosensors, bacterial pathogen detection, dissociation constants, biomolecular screening, high affinity
Citation
Teng J, Yuan F, Ye Y, Zheng L, Yao L, Xue F, Chen W and Li B (2016) Aptamer-Based Technologies in Foodborne Pathogen Detection. Front. Microbiol. 7:1426. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01426
Received
08 July 2016
Accepted
29 August 2016
Published
12 September 2016
Volume
7 - 2016
Edited by
Andrea Gomez-Zavaglia, Center for Research and Development in Food Cryotechnology – The National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina
Reviewed by
Kiiyukia Matthews Ciira, Mount Kenya University, Kenya; Learn-Han Lee, Monash University Malaysia Campus, Malaysia
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© 2016 Teng, Yuan, Ye, Zheng, Yao, Xue, Chen and Li.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Feng Xue, fengxue1219@aliyun.com Wei Chen, chenweishnu@163.com
This article was submitted to Food Microbiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology
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