title: Thermostable esterase 2 from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius as biosensor for the detection of organophosphate pesticides.
abstract: Pesticides are the plague of modern times, although much needed in agriculture, causing damage to the entire ecosystem, including humans. The high operative costs and the requirement of specialized personnel for pesticide detection, incentive to develop alternative solutions such as the set up of cheap, rapid, and simple to use biosensors. In this work, we evaluate the possibility to use the esterase 2 from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius as a biosensor for the detection of specific organophosphate pesticides. With the recent demonstration of the very high affinity of esterase 2 toward paraoxon, a more complete analysis on the detection methods in water as well as in purposely contaminated fruit juices was carried out. The inhibitory effects of a wide range of other pesticides on esterase 2 were investigated, showing a better selectivity with respect to nonspecific reaction of acethylcholinesterases, the main target of organophosphate pesticides. The applied methodology allowed one to detect 2.75 × 10(-3) ppm of neurotoxic agent, comparable to the efficiency of other acethylcholinesterase-based biosensors. Finally, a raw biosensor, based on EST2 immobilization on a nitrocellulose membrane, was devised and tested for paraoxon detection, showing longtime stability, reproducibility, and sensibility.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biochimica delle Proteine, CNR, Naples, Italy. f.febbraio@ibp.cnr.it
authors.forename: Ferdinando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Febbraio
authors.forename: Luigia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Merone
authors.forename: Giovanni Paolo
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Cetrangolo
authors.forename: Mosè
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nucci
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Manco
mesh_terms: D056450:Alicyclobacillus / Q000201:enzymology*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D004795:Enzyme Stability; D004950:Esterases / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D010575:Pesticides; D004950:Esterases