Microbial Biosensors for Environmental Monitoring and Food Analysis

Abstract

A microbial biosensor is an elaborate analytic device that uses microorganisms as recognition elements, mainly for application in environmental monitoring, food safety, military defense, and medicine. The selection and immobilization of microorganisms are key steps that must first be addressed for microbial biosensors. Currently, genetically modified microorganisms play an increasingly significant role in improving the capacity of biosensors. Electrochemical and optical types of transducers have been widely employed in microbial biosensors, although bioluminescence and fluorescence methods have been highlighted recently. Additionally, the microbial fuel cell (MFC), which has been mainly applied in biological oxygen demand (BOD) biosensors, is a promising technology. This article reviews recent developments of microbial biosensors with respect to their applications in environmental monitoring and food analysis, including measurement of a variety of common pollutants, products in fermenting processes, antibiotic residues, and toxins in food. Current limitations and prospective future directions, such as performance optimization, developing portable biosensors for on-site monitoring, combination of genetic and DNA approaches, nanotechnology, and phage-based biosensors for foodborne pathogens, are also discussed in this review.

Food adulteration: Sources, health risks, and detection methods

“…Molecular methods and DNA-based techniques allow fast and more authentic detection of microbial contaminants in food and help in defining the originality of species in meats, milk etc. Biosensors have also been designed to detect microbial contaminants and various hormones in food(Xu and Ying, 2011) which provide us with the advantage of high degree of specificity and sensitivity, and the possibility of being used for inline processes monitoring during food manufacturing(Viswanathan et al, 2009). A similar new molecular approach includes the use of peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-based technologies for food analysis and food authentication(Sforza et al, 2011).…”

Food Analysis: Present, Future, and Foodomics

“…Biosensors have been developed for determining major and minor food components, preservatives, food colors and sweeteners, toxins, pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones [69]. They have also found use in tracking microbial contamination [70], to follow food safety [71], processing, and to certify food quality and control including the development of the so-called electronic nose [72] or electronic tongue [73] that have a large impact on flavor analysis. The advantages of these methods are the rapid response time, the high degree of specificity and sensitivity, and the possibility of being used for inline processes monitoring food manufacturing.…”

Bio-analytical applications of microbial fuel cell-based biosensors for onsite water quality monitoring

“…Microbial biosensors are widely versatile and selective to a variety of target analytes, as they have a large range of enzymes in their cells (Lagarde and Jaffrezic-Renault 2011). The electrochemical routes, which are typically applied for microbial sensors, include conductometry, potentiometry and amperometry (Xu and Ying 2011). Currently, microbial biosensors have mainly been employed to monitor water quality, but few commercial prototypes have been utilized for monitoring water toxicity as well (Su et al 2011).…”