Allosteric probe-triggered isothermal amplification to activate CRISPR/Cas12a for sensitive electrochemiluminescence detection of Salmonella

•The binding of allosteric probe to Salmonella improves the sensing specificity.•The recognition of DNA by CRISPR/Cas improves the specificity of the biosensor.•Isothermal amplification coupled CRISPR/Cas ECL system enables high sensitivity.•The detection range is 50–5 × 106 CFU/mL, and the detection limit is 37 CFU/mL. We report an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor for Salmonella detection based on allosteric probe as a bio-recognition element and CRISPR/Cas12a as a signal amplification strategy. In the presence of Salmonella, the structure switching occurs on allosteric probes, resulting in their hybridization with primers to trigger isothermal amplification. Salmonella is then released to initiate the next reaction cycle accompanying by generating a large amount of dsDNA, which are subsequently recognized by CRISPR-gRNA for activating the trans-cleavage activity of Cas12a. Furthermore, the activated Cas12a can indiscriminately cut the ssDNA which is bound to the electrode, enabling the release of the ECL emitter porphyrinic Zr metal − organic framework (MOF, PCN-224) and exhibiting a decreased ECL signal accordingly. The linear range is 50 CFU·mL−1–5 × 106 CFU·mL−1 and the detection limit is calculated to be 37 CFU·mL−1. This method sensitively detects Salmonella in different types of real samples, indicating it is a promising strategy for Salmonella detection