Antibiotic resistance is continuing to develop around the world due to the overuse of antibiotics and is acknowledged as a serious threat to human health. In this context, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are emerging bio-contaminants that enhance the likelihood that antimicrobial resistance will spread through the environment. There is an urgent need for a rapid and sensitive detection technique for ARGs. In this study, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), a sensitive analytical tool that enables single-molecule detection, was used to detect a proxy ARG, mecA, with different concentrations. mecA is an ARG that enables the development of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). To create SERS active hot-spots, a slippery liquid-infused porous SERS (SLIPSERS) platform was used to concentrate water droplets containing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and a mecA segment. Isolation was achieved via free-pinning droplet evaporation on a hydrophobic porous PTFE membrane. With this SERS substrate, detection of low concentrations of the target down to 10-23 M were achieved. A linear trend was observed between the logarithmic concentration of mecA segment and the normalized intensity of the corresponding peak in the Raman spectrum. We collected different Raman spectra of mecA segment (86 base pairs) and its base mismatches (2, 6, 10, 20 bases mismatched) to investigate if different shape profiles of Raman spectra of the gene reflect sequence differences. Using the collected Raman spectra, a multiclass support vector machine (MC-SVM) model was generated and trained. The results showed that MC-SVM model had 87.8% overall accuracy to predict the correct mecA segment and its analogue. To further improve the accuracy of the model, additional training data sets are being collected.

Sensitive detection and identification of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) enabled by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and multiclass support vector machine (MC-SVM)

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.