. 2017 Mar 31;15:25. doi: 10.1186/s12951-017-0260-y

Table 1.

The main features of the most important reported methods for bacteria detection

No.	Reference	Type of nanoparticle	Size (nm)	Bacteria detected	Method	Advantages	Limit of detection (CFU/mL)
1.	Joo 2012, [56]	Superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles functionalized with monoclonal antibodies toward Salmonella	120	Salmonella	Immuno-magnetic separation	Rapid, and cost-effective	100
2.	Wang 2016, [54]	Polyethylenimine (PEI)-modified Au-coated magnetic microspheres (Fe₃O₄@Au@PEI) and concentrated Au@Ag nanoparticles (NPs),	300	Escherichia coli Staphylococcus aureus	SERS detection method	Simple operating procedure, total assay time 10 min.	100
3.	Qi 2016, [57]	Cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles	40–50	Desulforibrio caledoiensis	Fluorescence microscopy	Short detection time	25.8
4.	Gao 2006, [58]	FePt@Van magnetic nanoparticles,	<10	Escherichia coli Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CNS)	Fluorescence microscopy	Bacteria detection under 2 h	4
5.	Raj 2015, [59]	Cysteine gold nanoparticles (CAuNPs)	20 ± 2	Escherichia coli	Colorimetric method	Fast, visual method	100
6.	Li 2013, [14]	Streptavidin coated magnetic nanoparticles	36	Escherichia coli Salmonella Vibrio cholera Campylobacter jejuni	Multiplex PCR	Simultaneous detection of four pathogens	100
7.	Cao 2011, [60]	Bimetallic Au@Ag core–shell structures	27.7 ± 6.8	Campylobacter jejuni	Immuno-magnetic separation-polymerase chain reaction (IMS-PCR) method	Cost-effective, only basic equipment needed	100
8.	Sepunaru 2015, [61]	Silver NPs (AgNPs)	90.4 ± 3.6	Escherichia coli	Anodic particle coulometry technique	Single bacteria detection	Single detection
9.	Wang 2016, [62]	Au-coated magnetic nanoparticles (AuMNPs) conjugated with Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) antibody	190	Staphylococcus aureus	SERS detection method	Low limit of detection	10
10.	Cao 2014, [63]	Molecular beacon–Aunanoparticle	15	Escherichia coli	Real-time PCR	10³ times more sensitive than traditional beacon probes	100
11.	Zhang 2012, [64]	Multifunctional magnetic–plasmonic Fe₃O₄–Au core–shell nanoparticles (Au-MNPs)	248.6 ± 35.8	E. coli P. aeruginosa A. calcoaceticus	SERS detection method	One-step concentration and detection	50
12.	Wang [65]	CdSe/ZnS@SiO₂–NH₂ nanoparticles	70	Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli Staphylococcus aureus	Fluorescence microscopy	High sensitivity	330
13.	Zhou 2014, [36]	Silver nanoparticles	30	Escherichia coli Staphylococcus epidermidis	Dynamic SERS	Total assay time of 10 min.	250
14.	Wu 2014, [66]	Multicolor upconversion nanoparticles coupled with magnetic nanoparticles	20−30	Staphylococcus aureus Vibrio parahemolyticus, and Salmonella typhimurium	Multiplexed Luminescence Bioassay Method	High specificity, simultaneous detection	10-15