Landscape phage-based magnetostrictive biosensor for detecting Bacillus anthracis spores

A new diagnostic probe selected from a landscape phage library was used in combination with a free standing magnetostrictive platform to form a wireless biosensor with quick response and high accuracy. The immobilization of the phage-derived probes leads to a three dimensional biomolecular recognition layer that captures the target spores multivalently. After the phage-coated biosensors were exposed to suspensions of the target spores, the binding of spores to the sensors resulted in a decrease of the resonant frequency due to the additional mass of the attached spores. Scanning electron microscopy was used to relate the observed frequency changes to the actual number of spores bound to the sensor.