Fluorimetric Detection of Single Pathogenic Bacterium in Milk and Sewage Water Using pH-Sensitive Fluorescent Carbon Dots and MALDI-TOF MS

The current study is focused on the application of water-soluble, fluorescent, and pH-sensitive carbon dots (CDs) as a nanoprobe for sensitive detection of pathogenic bacteria in milk and sewage water. The CDs were facilely synthesized through the controlled carbonization of sucrose using sulfuric acid and characterized through XRD, FTIR, TEM, UV-Vis Spectroscopy, and fluorescent analysis. The as-synthesized CDs were highly water-soluble, stable, and pH-sensitive fluorescent nanomaterials. The pH-related fluorescence study showed that the ratio of fluorescence intensity (Log[I(F410)/I(F350)]) changed linearly in the pH range between 4.9 and 6.9 in the Britton-Robison buffer. By determining the pH variation of the growth medium caused by the released acidic metabolites, the CDs-based ratiometric nanoprobe and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) were used for the detection and identification of Escherichia coli O157:H7, respectively. The practical applicability of the pH-sensitive fluorescent CDs-based ratiometric nanoprobe was evaluated to detect Escherichia coli O157:H7 in real samples, i.e., milk and sewage water using agar count plate method with a limit of detection (LOD) up to 1 colony-forming unit per mL (CFU/mL).