Assays for detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with special reference to phage based biosensors

Water safety is a global health goal and water borne diseases take a major crisis on health. Therefore, detection of microbial pathogens in water timely and accurately is of utmost importance. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium included in the list of water borne pathogens by WHO in their “Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality”, causes serious implications in animals as well as humans especially in children and immune-compromised patients. This review discusses the various methods like culture methods, immnunoassays, molecular assays, flurometric assays and biosensors for detection of P. aeruginosa with special reference to bacteriophage based biosensors. Phages are the natural enemies of bacteria which specifically recognize and infect a particular species of bacteria. Now bacteriophages are being employed as the bio-recognition element of a biosensor as they are highly specific and applicable for all the bacterial species including P. aeruginosa. The use of phage based biosensor could lead to a revolution in the field of disease diagnosis, detection of food and water contaminants and environmental pollution. This would be of critical importance to microbiologists, clinicians, public health personnel and policy makers.