Phage Litmus: Biomimetic Virus-Based Colorimetric Sensors for Explosive Detection

Nature utilizes various of the colorization process. Some species of birds can express their mood of tempers by changing their collagen structures on skin. For example, turkey can change their skin color by expansion of the collagen structures, which are associated with the distinct color changes. Here, we developed bioinspired virus-based colorimetric sensors which can be genetically tuned for target molecule. Using M 13 bacteriophage, we fabricated responsive self-assembled color matrices composed of quasi-ordered fiber bundle structures. These virus matrices can exhibit color change by stimuli through fiber bundle structure modulation. Upon exposure of volatile organic compounds, the resulting multi-colored matrices exhibited distinct color changes with different ratios that can be recognized by the naked eyes. Using the directed evolutionary approaches, we genetically engineered the virus matrix to incorporate binding motif for explosive detection (i.e., trinitrotoluene (TNT)). Through utilizing a common handheld device (i.e., iPhone), we could distinguish TNT molecules down to 20 ppb in a selective manner. Our novel biomimetic virus colorimetric sensor can overcome current limitation for low response selectivity.