Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Feb 23:9:622994.
doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.622994. eCollection 2021.

Whole-Cell Microbial Bioreporter for Soil Contaminants Detection

Ni Zeng  1   2 , Yichao Wu  1   2 , Wenli Chen  1 , Qiaoyun Huang  1   2 , Peng Cai  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Whole-Cell Microbial Bioreporter for Soil Contaminants Detection

Ni Zeng et al. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. .

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities have released various contaminants into soil that pose a serious threat to the ecosystem and human well-being. Compared to conventional analytical methodologies, microbial cell-based bioreporters are offering a flexible, rapid, and cost-effective strategy to assess the environmental risks. This review aims to summarize the recent progress in the application of bioreporters in soil contamination detection and provide insight into the challenges and current strategies. The biosensing principles and genetic circuit engineering are introduced. Developments of bioreporters to detect and quantify heavy metal and organic contaminants in soil are reviewed. Moreover, future opportunities of whole-cell bioreporters for soil contamination monitoring are discussed.

Keywords: biosensor; environmental monitoring; heavy metal; microbial bioreporter; organic contaminants; soil contamination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The handling editor declared a past co-authorship with one of the authors YW. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Detection principle of whole-cell microbial bioreporter. The analyte activates or inhibits the expression of the specific promoter and downstream reporter gene. Pspec, specific promoter; Pconst, constitutive promoter; FMNH2, reduced flavin mononucleotide; RCHO, aldehyde; β-Gal, β-galactosidase; X-Gal, 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactopyranoside; e–, electron.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bae J. W., Seo H. B., Belkin S., Gu M. B. (2020). An optical detection module-based biosensor using fortified bacterial beads for soil toxicity assessment. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 412 3373–3381. 10.1007/s00216-020-02469-z - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bansal K., Yang K., Nistala G. J., Gennis R. B., Bhalerao K. D. (2010). A positive feedback-based gene circuit to increase the production of a membrane protein. J. Biol. Eng. 4 1–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ben-Yoav H., Biran A., Pedahzur R., Belkin S., Buchinger S., Reifferscheid G., et al. (2009). A whole cell electrochemical biosensor for water genotoxicity bio-detection. Electrochim. Acta 54 6113–6118. 10.1016/j.electacta.2009.01.061 - DOI
    1. Bierkens J., Klein G., Corbisier P., Van Den Heuvel R., Verschaeve L., Weltens R., et al. (1998). Comparative sensitivity of 20 bioassays for soil quality. Chemosphere 37 2935–2947. 10.1016/s0045-6535(98)00334-8 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bilal M., Iqbal H. M. N. (2019). Microbial-derived biosensors for monitoring environmental contaminants: recent advances and future outlook. Process Saf. Environ. Prot. 124 8–17. 10.1016/j.psep.2019.01.032 - DOI