A simple and cost-effective test for water-borne pathogen Legionella

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Legionella pneumophila (Legionella) is a waterborne pathogen from naturally occurring and man-made water sources and is known to cause Legionnaires' disease. In recent years, Legionella outbreaks continue to arise both in Canada and around the world. One in 10 people in the general public and one in 4 people from health care facilities contracted with Legionella will die. Therefore the economic and human costs of Legionella outbreaks are very high. There is currently a lack of cost-effective and simple diagnostic testing and monitoring methods for Legionella pneumophila. Synthetic DNA-based enzymes (DNAzymes) are capable of catalyzing a wide variety of chemical reactions and we believe are well suited to address the need for fast and simple Legionella testing methods by acting as a molecular recognition element. Our team has already developed an RNA-cleaving DNAzyme that demonstrates highly selective RNA-cleaving activity towards Legionella. The key objectives of this project are to optimize the performance of this DNAzyme for detecting Legionella and to create a simple biosensor prototype for commercialization. When developed, this biosensor holds the potential to provide a simple and user-friendly solution for on-site monitoring of the contamination of Legionella in exposure sources, such as cooling water towers.