Abstract

Our team designed a detection device for pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli, EC), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, SA), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus, VP), and Salmonella enteritidis (S. enteritidis, SE) in food to help tackle the food safety issues worldwide. During the project, we successfully constructed five parts for five receptor-binding proteins [RBPs: gp13, TFP (tail fiber protein), gp15, CBD (C-terminal cell-binding domain), and TSP (tailspike protein)] and their corresponding fluorescently labeled GFP-fusion proteins (GFP-RBPs). BBa_K4430000 to BBa_K4430003 and BBa_K4430009 are basic parts for the RBPs. BBa_K4430005 to BBa_K4430008 and BBa_K4430010 are parts for the GFP-RBPs. Gp13, TFP, gp15, CBD, and TSP can specifically bind to the target bacteria E. coli O157, EC, VP, SA, and SE, respectively. We ultimately did not validate the O157 related components for safety reasons. GFP-fusion RBPs can trace the binding of RBPs with the bacteria via fluorescence and are used to validate the specificity of RBPs.