Physiological considerations of environmental applications of lux reporter fusions

Heitzer, A.; Applegate, Bruce; Kehrmeyer, S. R.; Pinkart, Holly C.; Webb, Oren F.; Phelps, Tommy J.; White, David C.; Sayler, Gary S.

doi:10.1016/s0167-7012(98)00043-8

Cited by 68 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Study of luminescence stimulation by chlorophenols found that there is a relationship between higher stimulation of light output and higher EC50 values with lux-marked biosensors [35][36][37]. A mechanism involving release of fatty acids provided an increase in substrate for the luminescence reaction and therefore an increase in light output [38]. At the discharge point, values for both D. magna (LD85) and percentage bioluminescence (64%) (Fig.…”

Section: Remediation and Controlmentioning

confidence: 93%

Pollution Control and Remediation of the Tanning Effluent

Mwinyihija¹

2012

TOEPTJ

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Recent advances have been recorded in the tanning industry with biotechnology in principle playing a very important role through related applied research. This review paper demonstrates that a previously tagged tanning sector as the most hazardous can be resolved through adoption of cleaner technologies, waste management and remedial measures that can be put in place. Pollution is depicted stepwise along the leather processing phases with a selected xenobiotic and contaminants identified such as Sodium chlorides, Chromium, Sulphates, Chlorinated phenolics etc. As an interventionist strategy, biological tools using novel techniques of investigation are shown including the aquatic ecosystems. Remedial methods using known threshold in an identified tannery in Kenya is used to comprehend how to scale down the pollutants eventually. However it is recognised that though phytoremediation potential exist, it will require a combination of several other recently developed methods to provide a much firmer basis of controlling pollution loads related to the tanning Industry.

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Section: Remediation and Controlmentioning

confidence: 93%

Pollution Control and Remediation of the Tanning Effluent

Mwinyihija¹

2012

TOEPTJ

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“…With P. fluorescens HK44, a prototype bioluminescent catabolic reporter strain, a bioassay for the quantitative assessment of naphthalene and salicylate biodegradation in aqueous, soil, and slurry systems is available (252,253). A linear relationship was established between substrate concentration and bioluminescence over a concentration range of up to two orders of magnitude, and naphthalene induced a significant response at a concentration as low as 45 ppb.…”

Section: Bacterial Biosensorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology

Hamme¹,

Singh

Ward

2003

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

1,193

640

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Recent advances in molecular biology have extended our understanding of the metabolic processes related to microbial transformation of petroleum hydrocarbons. The physiological responses of microorganisms to the presence of hydrocarbons, including cell surface alterations and adaptive mechanisms for uptake and efflux of these substrates, have been characterized. New molecular techniques have enhanced our ability to investigate the dynamics of microbial communities in petroleum-impacted ecosystems. By establishing conditions which maximize rates and extents of microbial growth, hydrocarbon access, and transformation, highly accelerated and bioreactor-based petroleum waste degradation processes have been implemented. Biofilters capable of removing and biodegrading volatile petroleum contaminants in air streams with short substrate-microbe contact times (<60 s) are being used effectively. Microbes are being injected into partially spent petroleum reservoirs to enhance oil recovery. However, these microbial processes have not exhibited consistent and effective performance, primarily because of our inability to control conditions in the subsurface environment. Microbes may be exploited to break stable oilfield emulsions to produce pipeline quality oil. There is interest in replacing physical oil desulfurization processes with biodesulfurization methods through promotion of selective sulfur removal without degradation of associated carbon moieties. However, since microbes require an environment containing some water, a two-phase oil-water system must be established to optimize contact between the microbes and the hydrocarbon, and such an emulsion is not easily created with viscous crude oil. This challenge may be circumvented by application of the technology to more refined gasoline and diesel substrates, where aqueous-hydrocarbon emulsions are more easily generated. Molecular approaches are being used to broaden the substrate specificity and increase the rates and extents of desulfurization. Bacterial processes are being commercialized for removal of H2S and sulfoxides from petrochemical waste streams. Microbes also have potential for use in removal of nitrogen from crude oil leading to reduced nitric oxide emissions provided that technical problems similar to those experienced in biodesulfurization can be solved. Enzymes are being exploited to produce added-value products from petroleum substrates, and bacterial biosensors are being used to analyze petroleum-contaminated environments

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“…Bioluminescence is mediated by luciferase enzymes, which can have a prokaryotic or eukaryotic origin (reviewed in reference 33). Prokaryotic luciferases, such as those encoded by the luxAB genes, require reduced flavin mononucleotide, oxygen, and a substrate aldehyde for the bi- (12,33). Firefly luciferase, on the other hand, directly requires ATP for the light-generating reaction (33).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement of Biologically Available Naphthalene in Gas and Aqueous Phases by Use of a Pseudomonas putida Biosensor

Werlen

Jaspers

Meer

2004

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Genetically constructed microbial biosensors for measuring organic pollutants are mostly applied in aqueous samples. Unfortunately, the detection limit of most biosensors is insufficient to detect pollutants at low but environmentally relevant concentrations. However, organic pollutants with low levels of water solubility often have significant gas-water partitioning coefficients, which in principle makes it possible to measure such compounds in the gas rather than the aqueous phase. Here we describe the first use of a microbial biosensor for measuring organic pollutants directly in the gas phase. For this purpose, we reconstructed a bioluminescent Pseudomonas putida naphthalene biosensor strain to carry the NAH7 plasmid and a chromosomally inserted gene fusion between the sal promoter and the luxAB genes. Specific calibration studies were performed with suspended and filter-immobilized biosensor cells, in aqueous solution and in the gas phase. Gas phase measurements with filter-immobilized biosensor cells in closed flasks, with a naphthalene-contaminated aqueous phase, showed that the biosensor cells can measure naphthalene effectively. The biosensor cells on the filter responded with increasing light output proportional to the naphthalene concentration added to the water phase, even though only a small proportion of the naphthalene was present in the gas phase. In fact, the biosensor cells could concentrate a larger proportion of naphthalene through the gas phase than in the aqueous suspension, probably due to faster transport of naphthalene to the cells in the gas phase. This led to a 10-fold lower detectable aqueous naphthalene concentration (50 nM instead of 0.5 M). Thus, the use of bacterial biosensors for measuring organic pollutants in the gas phase is a valid method for increasing the sensitivity of these valuable biological devices.Increasingly, genetically modified bacteria are being developed and tested for use as measuring devices for pollutants in the environment (reviewed recently in references 5, 8, and 19). Such bacterial biosensors either constitutively express a signal, such as bioluminescence, with any signal decrease related to exposure of the cells to pollutants (28), or induce expression of an analytically useful signal specifically and only in the presence of one or a limited set of structurally related compounds (1,14,20,26,32). For a number of reasons, it is useful to have microorganisms themselves monitor the immediate environment rather than using analytical chemistry. First, bacterial biosensors can be used for quick screening purposes, either for detecting the presence of toxic compounds in aqueous samples or for detecting a predefined set of target compounds for which the biosensors had been developed. Second, having microorganisms themselves "measure" the concentrations of pollutants is thought to be more representative for estimation of the bioavailable fraction and could solve some of the difficulties of extrapolating bioavailable concentrations from differential chemical extrac...

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Physiological considerations of environmental applications of lux reporter fusions

Cited by 68 publications

References 26 publications

Pollution Control and Remediation of the Tanning Effluent

Pollution Control and Remediation of the Tanning Effluent

Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology

Measurement of Biologically Available Naphthalene in Gas and Aqueous Phases by Use of a Pseudomonas putida Biosensor

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