The Man-portable Analyte identification System (MANTIS), the first fully au
tomated, self-contained, portable fiber optic biosensor, was utilized for t
he detection of Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B (SEB), a bacterial toxin produ
ced by Staphylococcus nul-eus that commonly causes food poisoning. Because
of its remarkable toxicity and stability, SEE is considered a prime threat
as a biological weapon of mass destruction. The assay for SEE was used to e
valuate the MANTIS' ability to function in the presence of various environm
ental interferents. The sensor could reliably detect SEE spiked into liquid
samples containing a variety of smoke particles. However, substantial inte
rference occurred when SEE was mixed into matrices capable of adsorbing SEE
, such as 1% solutions of clay, topsoil, or pollen. Of equal importance, no
ne of the interferents produced false positives in the MANTIS. The MANTIS d
emonstrated the capability to perform simultaneous immunoassays rapidly in
the field with little or no user intervention. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.
A. All rights reserved.