Quartz crystal microbalance based biosensor for rapid and sensitive detection of maize chlorotic mottle virus

In this work, we report a biosensor based on a quartz crystal microbalance ( QCM) for the selective and sensitive detection of maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV). A mixture of 10 : 1 3-mercaptopropanoic acid and 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid was applied on gold surfaces of QCM crystals to form a selfassembled monolayer, and an anti-MCMV antibody was crosslinked on the surface for specific recognition of MCMV. The frequency change of the QCM crystal is a function of the concentration of MCMV with a response range from 250 ng mL(-1) to 10 mg mL(-1). The standard curve is R2 0.997, indicating a high reproducibility in MCMV detection. The detection limit is approximately 250 ng mL(-1), which is similar to that of the existing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The QCM sensor showed highly specific and sensitive recognition for both purified MCMV and crude extracts from corn leaf samples.