Evaluation of up-converting phosphor technology-based lateral flow strips for rapid detection of Bacillus anthracis Spore, Brucella spp., and Yersinia pestis

Pingping Zhang; Xiao Liu; Chengbin Wang; Yong Zhao; Fei Hua; Chunfeng Li; Ruifu Yang; Lei Zhou

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105305

Evaluation of up-converting phosphor technology-based lateral flow strips for rapid detection of Bacillus anthracis Spore, Brucella spp., and Yersinia pestis

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 21;9(8):e105305. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105305. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Pingping Zhang¹, Xiao Liu², Chengbin Wang³, Yong Zhao¹, Fei Hua⁴, Chunfeng Li³, Ruifu Yang¹, Lei Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Analytical Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
² Laboratory of Analytical Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, People's Republic of China; School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Department of Etiology, Taishan Medical University, Tai'an, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Bacillus anthracis, Brucella spp., and Yersinia pestis are zoonotic pathogens and biowarfare- or bioterrorism-associated agents that must be detected rapidly on-site from various samples (e.g., viscera and powders). An up-converting phosphor technology-based lateral flow (UPT-LF) strip was developed as a point-of-care testing (POCT) to satisfy the requirements of first-level emergency response. We developed UPT-LF POCT to quantitatively detect the three pathogens within 15 min. Sample and operation-error tolerances of the assay were comprehensively evaluated. The sensitivity of UPT-LF assay to bacterial detection reached 10(4) cfu · mL(-1) (100 cfu/test), with a linear quantitative range of 4 to 6 orders of magnitude. Results revealed that the UPT-LF assay exhibited a high specificity with the absence of false-positive results even at 10(9) cfu · mL(-1) of non-specific bacterial contamination. The assay could tolerate samples with a wide pH range (2 to 12), high ion strengths (≥ 4 mol · L(-1) of NaCl), high viscosities (≤ 25 mg · mL(-1) of PEG20000 or ≥ 20% of glycerol), and high concentrations of bio-macromolecule (≤ 200 mg · mL(-1) of bovine serum albumin or ≥ 80 mg · mL(-1) of casein). The influence of various types of powders and viscera (fresh and decomposed) on the performance of UPT-LF assay was determined. The operational error of liquid measurement exhibited few effects on sensitivity and specificity. The developed UPT-LF POCT assay is applicable under field conditions with excellent tolerance to sample complexity and operational error.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacillus anthracis*
Biosensing Techniques*
Brucella*
Humans
Luminescent Measurements / methods*
Point-of-Care Systems*
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Spores, Bacterial
Yersinia pestis*

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81000774), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2013AA032205) and the Major National Science and Technology Programs of China (Grant Nos. 2011ZX10004 and 2012ZX1004801). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.