Quantum dot incorporated Bacillus spore as nanosensor for viral infection

In this paper, we report a high-throughput biological method to prepare spore-based monodisperse microparticles (SMMs) and then form the nanocomposites of CdTe quantum dot (QD)-loaded SMMs by utilizing the endogenous functional groups from Bacillus spores. The SMMs and QD-incorporated spore microspheres (QDSMs) were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, fluorescence and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, zeta potential analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, potentiometric titrations, X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy. The thermodynamics of QD/SMM interaction and antigen/QDSM interaction was also investigated by isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC). Fluorescent QDSMs coded either with a single luminescence color or with multiple colors of controlled emission intensity ratios were obtained. Green QDSMs were used as a model system to detect porcine parvovirus antibody in swine sera via flow cytometry, and the results demonstrated a great potential of QDSMs in high-throughput immunoassays. Due to the advantages such as simplicity, low cost, high throughput and eco-friendliness, our developed platform may find wide applications in disease detection, food safety evaluation and environmental assessment.