Synthesis of an acryloyl-ester-based cysteine-responsive fluorescent probe and its application in bacterial detection

Bacterial infectious diseases pose a significant threat to human health, making rapid and accurate bacterial detection essential for public health prevention and control. Cysteine (Cys), a key bacterial metabolite, serves as an important biomarker for identifying the type and progression of bacterial infections. Herein, we report a fluorescence-enhanced probe for dynamically monitoring Cys levels in living bacteria. The probe exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity towards Cys, with a detection limit as low as 0.20 μM. Additionally, when coated on a test strip, Probe-Cys enables visual Cys detection via a fluorescence color change from colorless to red. This probe also facilitates Cys imaging in living bacteria, distinguishing Cys levels in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Most importantly, Probe-Cys allows for the quantitative detection of bacterial concentrations in water and food samples and assesses bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics. Thus, our study offers an alternative approach for bacterial identification and a new reagent for bacterial imaging.