Ultra-fast electronic detection of antimicrobial resistance genes using isothermal amplification and Thin Film Transistor sensors

Publication date: 15 October 2017
Source:Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Volume 96
Author(s): Chunxiao Hu, Sumit Kalsi, Ioannis Zeimpekis, Kai Sun, Peter Ashburn, Carrie Turner, J. Mark Sutton, Hywel Morgan
A low cost thin-film transistor (TFT) nanoribbon (NR) sensor has been developed for rapid real-time detection of DNA amplification using an isothermal Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) method. The semiconductor chip measures DNA amplification through a pH change, rather than via fluorescence. The utility of the method was demonstrated by amplifying CTX-M and NDM, two genes that confer bacterial resistance to cephalosporins and carbapenems, respectively. It is shown that this approach provides extremely fast and sensitive detection. It can detect <10 copies of the gene in genomic DNA extracted from E. coli or K. pneumoniae clinical isolates within a few minutes. A differential readout system was developed to minimize the effect of primer-dimer amplification on the assay. The simple device has the potential for low cost, portable and real-time nucleic acid analysis as a Point of Care device.



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