Bioluminescent-Inhibition-Based Biosensor for Full-Profile Soil Contamination Assessment

Abstract

A bioluminescent-enzyme-inhibition-based assay was applied to predict the potential toxicity of the full profile of the following soil samples: agricultural grassland, 10-year fallow land (treated with remediation processes for 10 years) and uncontaminated (virgin) land. This assay specifically detects the influence of aqueous soil extracts from soils on the activity of a coupled enzyme system of luminescent bacteria: NAD(P)H:FMN-oxidoreductase + luciferase (Red + Luc). It was shown that the inhibitory effect of the full-profile soil samples on the Red + Luc system decreased with depth for the 10-year fallow-land and virgin-land samples, which correlated with a decrease in the humic organic matter content in the soils. The inhibitory effect of the agricultural grassland on the Red + Luc enzyme system activity was more complex and involved the presence of the humic organic matter content, as well as the presence of pollutants in the whole-soil profile. However, if the interfering effect of humic organic substances on the Red + Luc system’s activity is taken into account during full-profile soil toxicity assessments, it might help to detect pollutant mobility and its leaching into the subsoil layer. Thus, this bioluminescent method, due to the technical simplicity, rapid response time and high sensitivity, has the potential to be developed as a biological part of the inhibition-based assay and/or biosensors for the preventive tracing of potential full-profile soil contamination.

Pb(II)-inducible proviolacein biosynthesis enables a dual-color biosensor toward environmental lead

“…Compared with non-cellular devices such as protein-based biosensors, DNA-based biosensors, and electrochemical sensors, whole-cell biosensors can potentially monitor cytotoxic, bioavailable, and bioaccessible metals in a low-cost, mini-equipment, and high-throughput manner. Various whole-cell biosensors have been successfully developed with fluorescent ( Hui et al, 2021b ; Kolosova et al, 2022 ), and colorimetric ( Hui et al, 2021a ) signal outputs.…”

Using Methyl Bromide for Interspecies Cell–Cell Signaling and As a Reporter in a Model Soil Consortium

“…Rhizosphere bacteria have been programmed to visually respond to a synthetic signal, and this approach has been used to engineer control over nitrogen fixation . Synthetic biology is also being applied in bulk soils to enhance microbial bioremediation of contaminants, e.g., pesticides, , and to understand soil processes outside of the rhizosphere. , To achieve the latter, soil biosensors have been developed that report on gene expression nondisruptively by producing indicator gases, such as methyl halides and ethylene. , To date, these volatile metabolites have been used to report on the presence of synthetic microbes in soil, the effects of hydration on horizontal gene transfer, and the effect of the soil matrix on signal bioavailability. , While gas signals can be measured in the headspace of soils containing synthetic cells at titers as low as ∼10 3 microbes per gram of soil, it remains unclear if they can be applied in soils to control the flow of information about individual microbial behaviors.…”

“…13 Synthetic biology is also being applied in bulk soils to enhance microbial bioremediation of contaminants, e.g., pesticides, 14,15 and to understand soil processes outside of the rhizosphere. 16,17 To achieve the latter, soil biosensors have been developed that report on gene expression nondisruptively by producing indicator gases, such as methyl halides and ethylene. 18,19 To date, these volatile metabolites have been used to report on the presence of synthetic microbes in soil, 20 T h i s c o n t e n t i s the effects of hydration on horizontal gene transfer, 18 and the effect of the soil matrix on signal bioavailability.…”

Bioluminescent-Triple-Enzyme-Based Biosensor with Lactate Dehydrogenase for Non-Invasive Training Load Monitoring

“…One of the non-invasive and rapid enzyme-based biosensors for lactate detection in saliva can be a bioluminescent-enzyme-based biosensor. Previously, bioluminescent enzymes were approved for their convenience as biological parts of (bio)sensors [15][16][17]. The use of these enzymes is due to a rapid response time and relative simplicity of bioluminescent enzymatic activity recording in the form of light intensity [16,17].…”