Detection of the Chilli Leaf Curl Virus Using an Attenuated Total Reflection-Mediated Localized Surface-Plasmon-Resonance-Based Optical Platform

The development of a nanoparticle-based optical platform has been presented as a biosensor for detecting target-specific plant virus DNA. The binding dynamics of gold nanoparticles has been studied on the amine-functionalized surface by the attenuated total reflection (ATR)-based evanescent wave absorption method monitoring the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). The developed surface was established as a refractive index sensor by monitoring the LSPR absorption peak of gold nanoparticles. This nanoparticle-immobilized surface was explored to establish as a biosensing platform with target-specific immunoglobulin (IgG) antibody-antigen interaction. The IgG concentration-dependent variation of absorbance was correlated with the refractive index change. After successfully establishing this ATR configuration as an LSPR-based biosensor, the single-stranded DNA of the chilli leaf curl virus was detected using its complementary DNA sequence as a receptor. The limit of detection of this sensor was determined to be 1.0 μg/mL for this target viral DNA. This ATR absorption technique has enormous potential as an LSPR based nano-biosensor for the detection of other begomoviruses.