Recent Progress of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Bacteria Detection

Abstract

There are various pathogenic bacteria in the surrounding living environment, which not only pose a great threat to human health but also bring huge losses to economic development. Conventional methods for bacteria detection are usually time-consuming, complicated and labor-intensive, and cannot meet the growing demands for on-site and rapid analyses. Sensitive, rapid and effective methods for pathogenic bacteria detection are necessary for environmental monitoring, food safety and infectious bacteria diagnosis. Recently, benefiting from its advantages of rapidity and high sensitivity, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has attracted significant attention in the field of bacteria detection and identification as well as drug susceptibility testing. Here, we comprehensively reviewed the latest advances in SERS technology in the field of bacteria analysis. Firstly, the mechanism of SERS detection and the fabrication of the SERS substrate were briefly introduced. Secondly, the label-free SERS applied for the identification of bacteria species was summarized in detail. Thirdly, various SERS tags for the high-sensitivity detection of bacteria were also discussed. Moreover, we emphasized the application prospects of microfluidic SERS chips in antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). In the end, we gave an outlook on the future development and trends of SERS in point-of-care diagnoses of bacterial infections.

Differentiation of snake venom using Raman spectroscopic analysis

“…15 Still playing an important role in the structural characterization of substances, this method has significantly expanded the scope of application. Nowadays, it is used for early detection of cancer, 16 bacteria detection, 17 to study the pathophysiology of brain diseases, 18 to determine the biochemical composition of plant, 19 etc. It also demonstrates the possibility of working with complex samples (multicomponent mixtures), for example, a study reported the classification of blood samples obtained from 11 animal classes and human subjects by statistical analysis of their Raman spectra.…”

On-Chip Photonic Detection Techniques for Non-Invasive In Situ Characterizations at the Microfluidic Scale

“…Analytes can be identified through Raman shift and quantified by assessing the corresponding peak intensities. It has multiple attractive characteristics, such as label-free and non-invasive detection, a rapid response, and the possibility of performing online analyses [ 69 , 70 , 71 ]. Employing Raman spectroscopy on a chip, Lines et al, proposed a microfluidic system to miniaturize the analyses of hazardous radioactive samples related to the plutonium–uranium reduction–extraction process (PUREX).…”

Illuminating the Tiny World: A Navigation Guide for Proper Raman Studies on Microorganisms

“…This approach therefore leads to signal enhancements of several orders of magnitude depending on the type of SERS substrate in combination with the excitation wavelength. Applying SERS to bacteria leads to two different approaches: either the bacteria are analyzed directly, or indirectly via an SERS tag with an SERS marker molecule [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. In the first case, the SERS substrate will interact with the bacterial surface or secreted molecules and this information can then be used for identification or monitoring of physiological changes.…”