Development of a surface plasmon resonance biosensor for the identification of Campylobacter jejuni

The purpose of this study was to develop a biosensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for the rapid identification of C. jejuni in broiler samples. We examined the specificity and sensitivity of commercial antibodies against C. jejuni with six Campylobacter strains and six non-Campylobacter bacterial strains. Antigen-antibody interactions were studied using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a commercially available SPR biosensor platform (Spreeta). Campylobacter cells killed with 0.5% formalin had significant lower antibody reactivity when compared to live cells, or cells inactivated with 0.5% thimerosal or heat (70 degrees C for 3 min) using ELISA. The SPR biosensor showed a good sensitivity with commercial antibodies against C. jejuni at 10(3) CFU/ml and a low cross reactivity with Salmonella serotype typhimurium. The sensitivity of the SPR was similar when testing spiked broiler meat samples. However, research is still needed to reduce the high background observed when sampling meat products.