Research has been carried out in order to exploit the aspect of immunological specificity coupled to acoustic based transducer technology for the detection of spoilage and/or pathogenic microorganisms in food.
The work has involved:
the nucleotide sequence determination of a ferric siderophore receptor protein from Pseudomonas strain M114, domain analysis of the receptor protein to identify surface exposed regions and to generate antibodies directed against such regions;
analysis of the adsorption of radiolabelled immunoglobulin G (IgG) to silver and lithium niobate surfaces;
fabrication, electrical characterization and analysis of the performance of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices in liquid environments;
design and construction of SAW devices;
assessment of the specificity of developed antibodies.