Identifying bacteria using DNA binding maps

Summary, in English

We have developed an assay, based on nanofluidic channels and fluorescence microscopy, for optical mapping of DNA based on competitive binding between two molecules - one fluorescent and one sequence selective. From the experimental data we can extract binding constants for the two competing DNA binders, which may be subsequently used to calculate a theoretical reference map of any DNA with known sequence. The goal is to create a method for fast identification of bacteria from single DNA molecules without the need for additional cultivation or amplification. We here demonstrate a proof-of-principle experiment on phage DNA and furthermore show that the method can be used to distinguish between two strains of E. coli DNA and to map pieces of DNA onto the full genome.