title: Facile and Cost-Effective Detection of Saxitoxin Exploiting Aptamer Structural Switching.
abstract: A simple method to detect saxitoxin (STX), one of the main components of the paralytic shellfish poison from red tide, has been developed. By using a next generation dye for double-stranded DNA we were able to differentiate fluorescence from STX-binding aptamers when exposed to different concentrations of STX, suggesting a change in aptamer folding upon target binding. The developed method is extremely rapid, only requiring small sample volumes, with quantitative results in the concentration range of 15 ng/mL to 3 µg/mL of STX, with a detection limit of 7.5 ng/mL.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y Gestión de Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Gran Bretańa 1111, Valparaíso, Chile.
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alfaro
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y Gestión de Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Gran Bretańa 1111, Valparaíso, Chile.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bustos
authors.affiliation: Nanobiotechnology and Bioanalysis Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 ES-Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ciara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y Gestión de Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Gran Bretańa 1111, Valparaíso, Chile.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Conejeros
keywords: aptamers; high resolution melting; paralytic shellfish poison; red tide; saxitoxin