Antibody Immobilization on Waveguides Using aFlow–Through System Shows Improved Listeria monocytogenesDetection in an Automated Fiber Optic Biosensor: RAPTORTM

Recent outbreaks of food borne illnesses continue to support the need for rapidand sensitive methods for detection of foodborne pathogens. A method for detecting Listeriamonocytogenes in food samples was developed using an automated fiber-optic-basedimmunosensor, RAPTORTM. Detection of L. monocytogenes in phosphate buffered saline(PBS) was performed to evaluate both static and flow through antibody immobilizationmethods for capture antibodies in a sandwich assay. Subsequent detection in frankfurtersamples was conducted using a flow through immobilization system. A two stage blockingusing biotinylated bovine serum albumin (b-BSA) and BSA was effectively employed toreduce the non-specific binding. The sandwich assay using static or flow through mode ofantibody immobilization could detect 1