title: From Bits and Pieces to Whole Phage to Nanomachines: Pathogen Detection Using Bacteriophages.
abstract: The innate specificity of bacteriophages toward their hosts makes them excellent candidates for the development of detection assays. They can be used in many ways to detect pathogens, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Whole bacteriophages can carry reporter genes to alter the phenotype of the target. Bacteriophages can act as staining agents or the progeny of the infection process can be detected, which further increases the sensitivity of the detection assay. Compared with whole-phage particles, use of phage components as probes offers other advantages: for example, smaller probe size to enhance binding activity, phage structures that can be engineered for better affinity, as well as specificity, binding properties, and robustness. When no natural binding with the target exists, phages can be used as vehicles to identify new protein-ligand interactions necessary for diagnostics. This review comprehensively summarizes many uses of phages as detection tools and points the way toward how phage-based technologies may be improved.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Institute for Food Safety, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1; email: mgriffit@uoguelph.ca , hanany@alumni.uoguelph.ca , scucic@uoguelph.ca.|Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt 11566.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Anany
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Alberta Glycomics Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G2; email: ratmir@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Canadian Institute for Food Safety, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1; email: mgriffit@uoguelph.ca , hanany@alumni.uoguelph.ca , scucic@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cucic
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Alberta Glycomics Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G2; email: ratmir@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Derda
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G2; email: evoy@ece.ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Evoy
authors.affiliation: Canadian Institute for Food Safety, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1; email: mgriffit@uoguelph.ca , hanany@alumni.uoguelph.ca , scucic@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D061505:Cell Surface Display Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006801:Humans; D015335:Molecular Probes; D036103:Nanotechnology
chemical_list: D015335:Molecular Probes
keywords: bacteriophage; endolysins; pathogen detection; phage display; receptor-binding proteins