title: Monitoring aromatic hydrocarbons by whole cell electrochemical biosensors.
abstract: In this article, we describe a bacterial whole cell electrochemical biosensors system that can be used for monitoring aromatic hydrocarbons. These bacterial biosensors are based on fusions of a promoter that is sensitive to aromatic compounds (the promoter region of the xylS gene and the xylR gene coding for the transcriptional regulator of the xyl operon) to reporter genes that can be monitored electrochemically at real-time and on-line. The xylS promoter was fused upstream of two promoterless genes coding the lacZ gene and phoA. These constructs reacted specifically to aromatic compounds but not to nonaromatic compounds, and we could detect, within minutes, micromolar concentrations of different aromatic hydrocarbons such as xylene and toluene. The use of two different reporter genes allows the future construction of a multianalyte detection system for simultaneous monitoring of several pollutants. These whole cell biosensors are potentially useful for on-line and in situ detection of aromatic compounds and as early warning systems of environmental hazards.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Yossi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Paitan
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Biran
authors.forename: Nela
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shechter
authors.forename: Dvora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Biran
authors.forename: Judit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rishpon
authors.forename: Eliora Z
authors.initials: EZ
authors.lastname: Ron
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000235:genetics; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000032:analysis*; D007763:Lac Operon; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000235:genetics; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D001616:beta-Galactosidase