title: Use of Tunable Whole-Cell Bioreporters to Assess Bioavailable Cadmium and Remediation Performance in Soils.
abstract: It is important to have tools to measure the bioavailability to assess the risks of pollutants because the bioavailability is defined as the portions of pollutants showing the biological effects on living organisms. This study described the construction of tunable Escherichia coli whole-cell bioreporter (WCB) using the promoter region of zinc-inducible operon and its application on contaminated soils. It was verified that this WCB system showed specific and sensitive responses to cadmium rather than zinc in the experimental conditions. It was inferred that Cd(II) associates stronger with ZntR, a regulatory protein of zinc-inducible operon, than other metal ions. Moreover, the expression of reporter genes, egfp and mcherry, were proportional to the concentration of cadmium, thereby being a quantitative sensor to monitor bioavailable cadmium. The capability to determine bioavailable cadmium was verified with Cd(II) amended LUFA soils, and then the applicability on environmental systems was investigated with field soils collected from smelter area in Korea before and after soil-washing. The total amount of cadmium was decreased after soil washing, while the bioavailability was increased. Consequently, it would be valuable to have tools to assess bioavailability and the effectiveness of soil remediation should be evaluated in the aspect of bioavailability as well as removal efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Youngdae
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Sunghoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Yooeun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Yerin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioscience and Biotechnology, BMIC, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Youngshim
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Kunsan National University, Kunsan 54150, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Youn-Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: An
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001682:Biological Availability; D002104:Cadmium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D007477:Ions; D010957:Plasmids / Q000378:metabolism; D012015:Reference Standards; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D002104:Cadmium; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D015032:Zinc