title: New family of biosensors for monitoring BTX in aquatic and edaphic environments.
abstract: Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) contamination is a serious threat to public health and the environment, and therefore, there is an urgent need to detect its presence in nature. The use of whole-cell reporters is an efficient, easy-to-use and low-cost approach to detect and follow contaminants outside specialized laboratories; this is especially important in oil spills that are frequent in marine environments. The aim of this study is the construction of a bioreporter system and its comparison and validation for the specific detection of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in different host bacteria and environmental samples. Our bioreporter system is based on the two component regulatory system TodS-TodT of P. putida DOT-T1E, and the PtodXpromoter fused to the GFP protein as the reporter protein. For the construction of different biosensors, this bioreporter was transferred into three different bacterial strains isolated from three different environments, and their performance was measured. Validation of the biosensors on water samples spiked with petrol, diesel and crude oil on contaminated waters from oil spills and on contaminated soils demonstrated that they can be used in mapping and monitoring some BTEX compounds (specifically benzene, toluene and two xylene isomers). Validation of biosensors is an important issue for the integration of these devices into pollution-control programmes.
authors.affiliation: Estación Experimental del Zaidín-CSIC, C/ Profesor Albareda s/n, 18008, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hernández-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Estación Experimental del Zaidín-CSIC, C/ Profesor Albareda s/n, 18008, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Lázaro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.affiliation: Estación Experimental del Zaidín-CSIC, C/ Profesor Albareda s/n, 18008, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: Estación Experimental del Zaidín-CSIC, C/ Profesor Albareda s/n, 18008, Granada, Spain. ana.segura@eez.csic.es.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Segura
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001554:Benzene / Q000032:analysis*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014050:Toluene / Q000032:analysis*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014992:Xylenes / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C104650:TodT protein, Pseudomonas putida; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014992:Xylenes; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D014050:Toluene; D011494:Protein Kinases; C104649:TodS protein, Pseudomonas putida; D001554:Benzene