Progress and challenges in bacterial whole-cell-components Aptamer advanced screening and site identification

Since the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), a process that has been used extensively in many studies, has yielded mixed results, researchers are continuously attempting to refine their findings. First, this paper summarized the intervening factors during the SELEX process to regulate aptamer performance, such as the bacterial pretreatment techniques, library design, separation methods, microenvironment formation, enrichment technology, and 4 types of post-SELEX processes (truncation, elongation, modification, and in silico maturation), thereby providing an advanced screening strategy for aptamer against bacterial whole-cell-components. Second, the identification of the aptamer and bacterial whole-cell-components binding sites was examined with reference to targets, such as whole cells, protoplasts, proteins, lipopolysaccharides, peptidoglycans, teichoic acid, and spores, while the sequence sites were analyzed from an aptamer perspective. Furthermore, the application status of bacterial aptamers was briefly described, and the prospects of this process were delineated, which providing a comprehensive reference for bacterial aptamer SELEX and bacterial aptamer biosensor construction. • Deep insight into the intervening factors that regulate aptamer performance. • Seven kinds of target types were comprehensively analyzed. • The binding sites between aptamers and bacterial whole-cell-components compared. • Bacteria involving twenty-three different genus and thirty-eight species. • Future trends in optimizing performance and functionality of aptamers.