hexacyanoferrate-iii and 3-5-dichlorophenol

In biosensors fabrication, entrapment in polymeric matrices allows efficient immobilization of the biorecognition elements without compromising their structure and activity. When considering living cells, the biocompatibility of both the matrix and the polymerization procedure are additional critical factors. Bio-polymeric gels (e.g. alginate) are biocompatible and polymerize under mild conditions, but they have poor stability. Most synthetic polymers (e.g. PVA), on the other hand, present improved stability at the expense of complex protocols involving chemical/physical treatments that decrease their biological compatibility. In an attempt to explore new solutions to this problem we have developed a procedure for the immobilization of bacterial cells in polyethersulfone (PES) using phase separation. The technology has been tested successfully in the construction of a bacterial biosensor for toxicity assessment. Biosensors were coated with a 300  μm bacteria-containing PES membrane, using non-solvent induced phase separation (membrane thickness ≈ 300 μm). With this method, up to 2.3 × 10

Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Cell Survival; Cells, Immobilized; Chlorophenols; Electrochemical Techniques; Escherichia coli; Ferricyanides; Glucose; Membranes, Artificial; Oxidation-Reduction; Polymers; Reproducibility of Results; Sulfones; Toxicity Tests

This work presents a new colorimetric microorganism biosensor for monitoring and detecting acute toxicity in water, where prussian blue (PB) is used as the colorimetric indicator and E. coli as the model bacterial. In this biosensor, the electron mediator, ferricyanide, accepts electrons from E. coli during respiration to produce ferrocyanide, which subsequently reacts with ferric ions to yield PB, a famous material with a blue color. Since toxicants can inhibit the respiratory activity of E. coli and then reduce the ferrocyanide and consequent PB production, toxicity can be easily detected by measuring the decrease in the production of PB induced by toxicants. Three important toxicants, 3,5-dichlorophenol (DCP), As(3+), Cr(6+) are tested and the detection limits are 3.2, 25, and 3.2 ppm, respectively. Moreover, we could identify the yellow green to dark green color change by naked eye even at concentrations as low as 12.5 ppm for both DCP and Cr(6+). Subsequently, the acute toxicities of groundwater and south lake water are successfully determined by this sensor. This biosensor is rapid, sensitive and cost-effective, and can thus be regarded as a promising biosensor for giving an early warning of acute water toxicity.

Topics: Arsenic; Biosensing Techniques; Chlorophenols; Chromium; Colorimetry; Escherichia coli; Ferricyanides; Ferrocyanides; Groundwater; Lakes; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Pollution, Chemical

In this paper, a mediated method by using ferricyanide under non-deaerated condition for biotoxicity measurement was proposed. Ultramicroelectrode array (UMEA) was employed for effectively amplify the electrochemical signal from the total limiting currents to distinguish a little change in toxicity. Five species of microorganisms including two bacilli (Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae), two pseudomonas (Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseucomonas putida) and one fungus (Trichosporon cutaneum) were employed. 3,5-dichlorophenol (DCP) was taken as the reference toxicant. The IC50 values we obtained were similar with the values obtained using in the deaerated method. E. coli was used as model test microorganism. The final concentration of ferricyanide is 45 mM, E. coli OD600 8 and 1 h incubation were taken in optimum conditions in this study. Four heavy metal ions (Cr(6+), Hg(2+), Cd(2+) and Bi(3+)) were examined under the optimum conditions. Comparison with the results reported previously has confirmed that this method provided a simple and rapid alternative to toxicity screening of chemicals, especially advantageous for in situ monitoring of water system.

Topics: Chlorophenols; Electrochemical Techniques; Enterobacter cloacae; Escherichia coli; Ferricyanides; Metals, Heavy; Microarray Analysis; Microelectrodes; Pseudomonas fluorescens; Pseudomonas putida; Toxicity Tests; Trichosporon