title: Monitoring and classification of PAH toxicity using an immobilized bioluminescent bacteria.
abstract: An immobilized recombinant bioluminescent Escherichia coli strain, harboring a lac::luxCDABE fused plasmid, which shows lower bioluminescence levels when cellular metabolism is inhibited, was used to monitor the cellular toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs, classified as pericondensed (PCPAHs) or catacondensed (CCPAHs) according to their molecular structures, were differentiable according to the response of this biosensor. Only CCPAHs were found to cause cellular toxicity, resulting in a dose-dependent decrease in the bioluminescent output. The induction of cellular toxicity by CCPAHs and PCPAHs was compared with acute toxicity predictions obtained using the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model. A good relationship was obtained between the toxicities determined with the bioluminescent response of the immobilized bacterium GC2 and the QSAR model. It was also found that the present study offers a new method of predicting the cellular toxicities of CCPAHs or PCPAHs using this biosensor.
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory on Environmental Biotechnology, Kwangju Institute of Science and Technology (K-JIST), 1 Oryong-dong, Puk-gu, 500-712, Kwangju, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villaume
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: Byoung Chan
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Man Bock
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D018914:Cells, Immobilized / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000145:classification / Q000633:toxicity*; D021281:Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000145:classification / Q000633:toxicity*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012989:Soil Pollutants