TY - JOUR
T1 - Specific detection of p-chlorobenzoic acid by Escherichia coli bearing a plasmid-borne fcbA'::lux fusion
AU - Rozen, Yael
AU - Nejidat, Ali
AU - Gartemann, Karl Heinz
AU - Belkin, Shimshon
N1 - Funding Information:
Research was supported in part by the Moria Foundation and by grant I-0442-168.09/95 of the German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development. The generous gift of strains by R. A. LaRossa, T. K. Van Dyk and the DuPont Company is gratefully acknowledged. A. Nejidat was supported by a Deichmann fellowship.
PY - 1999/2/1
Y1 - 1999/2/1
N2 - In this communication we report on a genetically engineered bacterium that reacts by light emission to the presence of 4-chlorobenzoic acid. To construct this strain, DNA fragment (1.7 kb) upstream from the 4-chlorobenzoic acid dehalogenase (fcb) operon of Arthrobacter SU was fused to Vibrio fischeri luxCDABE genes. An Escherichia coli strain transformed with a multi-copy plasmid (pASU) bearing this fusion responded to the presence of 4-chlorobenzoic acid and a few closely related compounds by increased luminescence, exhibiting a high specificity but a relatively low sensitivity. While it could be somewhat, improved by manipulating the experimental pH, sensitivity remained too low for real time applicability. Nevertheless, the principle of using dehalogenase promoters as environmental pollution sensor was demonstrated.
AB - In this communication we report on a genetically engineered bacterium that reacts by light emission to the presence of 4-chlorobenzoic acid. To construct this strain, DNA fragment (1.7 kb) upstream from the 4-chlorobenzoic acid dehalogenase (fcb) operon of Arthrobacter SU was fused to Vibrio fischeri luxCDABE genes. An Escherichia coli strain transformed with a multi-copy plasmid (pASU) bearing this fusion responded to the presence of 4-chlorobenzoic acid and a few closely related compounds by increased luminescence, exhibiting a high specificity but a relatively low sensitivity. While it could be somewhat, improved by manipulating the experimental pH, sensitivity remained too low for real time applicability. Nevertheless, the principle of using dehalogenase promoters as environmental pollution sensor was demonstrated.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032889709&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0045-6535(98)00210-0
DO - 10.1016/S0045-6535(98)00210-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032889709
SN - 0045-6535
VL - 38
SP - 633
EP - 641
JO - Chemosphere
JF - Chemosphere
IS - 3
ER -