ABSTRACT
We present a droplet PCR workflow for detection of multiple pathogen DNA biomarkers using fluorescent color-coded Luminex® beads. This strategy enables encoding of multiple singleplex droplet PCRs using a commercially available bead set of several hundred distinguishable fluorescence codes. This workflow provides scalability beyond the limited number offered by fluorescent detection probes such as TaqMan probes, commonly used in current multiplex droplet PCRs. The workflow was validated for three different Luminex bead sets coupled to target specific capture oligos to detect hybridization of three microorganisms infecting poultry: avian influenza, infectious laryngotracheitis virus and Campylobacter jejuni. In this assay, the target DNA was amplified with fluorescently labeled primers by PCR in parallel in monodisperse picoliter droplets, to avoid amplification bias. The color codes of the Luminex detection beads allowed concurrent and accurate classification of the different bead sets used in this assay. The hybridization assay detected target DNA of all three microorganisms with high specificity, from samples with average target concentration of a single DNA template molecule per droplet. This workflow demonstrates the possibility of increasing the droplet PCR assay detection panel to detect large numbers of targets in parallel, utilizing the scalability offered by the color-coded Luminex detection beads.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers/analysis , DNA, Bacterial/analysis , DNA, Viral/analysis , Microfluidics/methods , Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , RNA, Viral/analysis , Animals , Campylobacter jejuni/genetics , Campylobacter jejuni/isolation & purification , Campylobacter jejuni/pathogenicity , Color , DNA Primers , DNA, Bacterial/genetics , DNA, Viral/genetics , Fluorescence , Herpesvirus 1, Gallid/genetics , Herpesvirus 1, Gallid/isolation & purification , Herpesvirus 1, Gallid/pathogenicity , Microfluidics/instrumentation , Microspheres , Nucleic Acid Hybridization/methods , Orthomyxoviridae/genetics , Orthomyxoviridae/isolation & purification , Orthomyxoviridae/pathogenicity , Poultry Diseases/diagnosis , Poultry Diseases/microbiology , Poultry Diseases/virology , RNA, Viral/genetics , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
We present a novel microfluidic system that integrates droplet microfluidics with a silicon nanoribbon field-effect transistor (SiNR FET), and utilize this integrated system to sense differences in pH. The device allows for selective droplet transfer to a continuous water phase, actuated by dielectrophoresis, and subsequent detection of the pH level in the retrieved droplets by SiNR FETs on an electrical sensor chip. The integrated microfluidic system demonstrates a label-free detection method for droplet microfluidics, presenting an alternative to optical fluorescence detection. In this work, we were able to differentiate between droplet trains of one pH-unit difference. The pH-based detection method in our integrated system has the potential to be utilized in the detection of biochemical reactions that induce a pH-shift in the droplets.
