Fluorescence polarization-based nucleic acid testing for rapid and cost-effective diagnosis of infectious disease

Abstract

A new nucleic acid detection method was developed for a rapid and cost-effective diagnosis of infectious disease. This approach relies on the three unique elements: 1)detection probes that regulate DNA polymerase activity in response to the complementary target DNA; 2)universal reporters conjugated with a single fluorophore; and 3)fluorescence polarization (FP) detection. As a proof-of-concept, the assay was used to detect and sub-type Salmonella bacteria with sensitivities down to a single bacterium in less than three hours.