Design of An Optical Nanobiosensor For Detection of Legionella Pneumophila in Water Samples

Background and objectives: legionella spp. is a causative agent of legionnaires' disease that creates public health prob- lems. isolation of these bacteria from water sources is essential to identify outbreak origins and prevent disease. diagnostic biosensors for water quality control to protect consumers from water-borne infections can predict many outbreaks. gold nanoparticles conjugated probes are a new generation of diagnostic tools. in this study, an optical nano biosensor was de- signed and characterized to detect legionella pneumophila in water samples rapidly. materials and methods: thiolated probes designed for the mip gene were attached to gold nanoparticles and then water samples containing legionella pneumophila were examined. results: the limit of detection for pcr and biosensor was 10^4 and 10^3 copy numbers/μl, respectively. biosensor sensitivity and pcr were reported to be 90% (18 out of 20) and 85% (17 out of 20), respectively. specificity 100% has been reported for both methods. conclusion: according to the obtained results, this method has the potential to diagnose l. pneumophila with high sensi- tivity and specificity. this system can be employed as a practical tool for rapid, accurate, high-sensitivity, and acceptable detection of legionella pneumophila in contaminated water, which is cost- effective in terms of cost and time.