The specific detection of E.coli using commercial polyclonal serum for the development of a biosensor

Abstract

Escherichia coli, is a rod shaped gram negative bacterium. It is always found in the presence of faeces and is therefore a direct indicator of faecal contamination. E. coli is easy to culture and although most strains are not pathogenic, its presence may indicate the possibility of pathogenic organisms in water. The means to identify E. coli specifically and sensitively is still only available to highly specialized laboratories and methods still remain too cumbersome and costly to be employed for routine drinking water analysis. The aim of this study was to determine whether the specificity required for a biosensor can be achieved using polyclonal antibodies.