Isolation of Listeria monocytogenes by Immunomagnetic Separation and Atomic Force Microscopy

Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogen of major concern to the food industry and the potential cause of severe infections such as listeriosis. Early detection of this foodborne pathogen is important in order to eliminate its potential hazards. So, immunomagnetic separation (IMS) has been suggested as a means of reducing the total analysis time and for improving the sensitivity of detection. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used for measuring the topographic properties of sample surfaces at nanometer scale. In this study, we used AFM to confirm both the sensitivity and the specificity of IMS. Regarding AFM analysis, the length and the width of the bacteria, which were in agreement with literature values, were found to be 2.993 $\mu\textrm{m}$ and 0.837 $\mu\textrm{m}$, respectively. As a result, AFM helped us both characterize and measure the bacterial and bead structures.