• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.715-718
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• 2000

The character of a recombinant bioluminescent bacteria's light emission enables us to monitor toxicity in water, soil and air. In this study, various bioluminescent responses to water samples containing toxic chemicals, such as phenol and mitomycin C, were obtained and analysed through the use of a multi-channel two-stage minibioreactor system. The bioluminescent pattern from each channel can be used as a standard for identifying the degree of toxicity in field samples. When various concentrations of toxic chemicals were injected in a step manner, different bioluminescent patterns were obtained. Also this system showed variation in its bioluminescent pattern as the injection manner was changed, i.e. using a modified version of the bell-curve type injection. In conclusion, the toxicity was shown to be related with the bioluminescent response when using these standard bioluminescent patterns. Comparing this standard with a bioluminescent response from a field sample, we can estimate the degree of which the sample is toxic.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.59-62
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• 1999

The recombinant bacteria strain DPD2540, containing a fabA::luxCDABE fusion, was used to detect the toxicity of various chemicals in this study. Membrane damaging agents such as phenol, ethanol, and cerulenin induced a rapid bioluminescent response from this strain. Other toxic agents, such as DNA-damaging or oxidative-damaging chemicals, showed a delayed bioluminescent response in which the maximum peak appeared over 150 min after induction. This strain was also tested for measurement of toxicity in field samples such as wastewater and river water effluents.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.101-105
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• 2003

Recombinant bioluminescent bacteria were used to monitor and classify the to xicity of azo dyes. Two constitutive bioluminescent bacteria, Photobacterium phosphoreum and Es-Cherichia coli, E, coli GC2 (lac::luxCOABE), were used to detect the cellular toxicity of the azo dyes. In addition, four stress-inducible bioluminestent E. coli, DPD2794 (recA::luxCDABE), a DNA damage Sensitive strain; DPD2540 (fabA::luxCDABE), a membrane damage sensitive strain; DPD2511 (katG::luxCDABE), an oxidative damage sensitive strain; and TV1061 (grpE::luxCDABE), a protein damage sensitive strain, were used to provide information about the type of toxicity caused by crystal violet, the most toxic dye of the 16 azo dyes tested. These results suggest that azo dyes result in serious cellular toxicity in bacteria, and that toxicity monitoring and classific ation of some azo dyes, In the field, may be possible using these recombinant bioluminescent bacteria.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.183-186
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• 2000

Several types of bioluminescent reporter strains have been developed for the detection and monitoring of pollutant aromatics contaminating the environment. In this study, a bioluminescent reporter strain, E. coli SHP3, was constructed by fusing the luc gene of firefly luciferase with the promoter of pcbC responsible for the meta-cleavage of aromatic hydrocarbons. the bioluminescence expressed by the luc gene in the reporter was well triggered by the promoter when it was exposed to 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyI (2,3-DHBP) at 0.5 to 1 mM concentrations. The bioluminescent response was more extensive when the reporter strain was exposed to 5 mM catechol and 2 mM 4-chlorocatechol. These different types of bioluminescent responses by E. coli SHP3 appeared to be characterized by the nature of the aromatics to stress. Since E. coli SHP3 responded to 2,3-DHBP quite sensitively, this reporter strain could be applied for detecting some catecholic pollutants.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.103-106
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• 2001

Bioluminescent bacteria fusing the stress promoter and lux gene have been developed as a toxicity biosensor. The light emitting bioluminescent bacteria have been used to measure the toxicity of many different chemicals. In this study, specially, DPD2540 (fabA::luxCDABE) was used to detect and classify phenolic toxicity to the cells membrane fatty acids, and then the relationship between phenolic toxicity and the distribution of various phenols in the cell was determined, with a model and equations provided. In addition, to show the possibility of detecting and classifying the toxicity of a chemical mixture, which may be present in wastewater, various bioluminescent bacteria having different stress promoters were used and their distinct response to the sample mixture was measured. To extend the applicable area of these bioluminescent bacteria to field, the portable biosensor using freeze-drying methods was developed and confirmed successfully.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.1254-1261
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• 2007

In the present study, we have constructed a bioluminescent bioreporter for the assessment of nitrate/nitrite bioavailability in wastewater. Specifically, an approximately 500-bp DNA fragment containing a nitrate/nitrite-activated nasR-like promoter (regulating expression of genes encoding nitrite reductase in the genus Klebsiella) was fused upstream of the Vibrio fischeri luxCDABE gene cassette in a modified mini-Tn5 vector. Characterization of this strain, designated W6-1, yielded dose-dependent increased bioluminescence coincident with increased nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium added to the growth medium from 1 to 11 ppm. Bioluminescence in response to nitrogen species addition was light dependent up to 10, 7, and 8 ppm with nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium, respectively. This response was linear in the range from 1 to 8 ppm for nitrate ($R^2=0.98$), 1 to 6 ppm for nitrite ($R^2=0.99$), and 1 to 7 ppm for ammonium ($R^2=0.99$). A significant bioluminescent response was also recorded when strain W6-1 was incubated with slurries from aged, nitrate/nitrite contaminated wastewater. Thus, bioreporter strain W6-1 can be used to elucidate factors that constrain the use of nitrate/nitrite in wastewaters.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.1125-1131
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• 2006

A kan'::luxCDABE fusion strain that was both highly bioluminescent and responsive to benzoic acid was constructed by transforming E. coli strain W3110 with the plasmid pUCDK, which was constructed by digesting and removing the 7-kb KpnI fragment from the promoterless luxCDABE plasmid pUCD615. Experiments using buffered media showed that this induction was dependent on the pH of the media, which influences the degree of benzoic acid protonation, and the expression levels seen are likely due to acidification of the cytoplasm by uncoupling of benzoic acid. Consequently, the sensitivity of this strain for benzoic acid was increased by nearly 20-fold when the pH was shifted from 8.0 to 6.5. Benzoic acid derivatives and several phenolics also resulted in significantly increased bioluminescent signals. Although these compounds are known to damage membranes and induce the heat-shock response within E. coli, bacterial strains harboring mutations in the fadR and rpoH genes, which are responsible for fatty acid biosynthesis during membrane stress and induction of the heat-shock response, respectively, showed that these mutations had no effect on the responses observed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.417-422
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• 2002

Gene fusions were constructed by the transcriptional fusion of the dnaK promoter of pseudomonas sp. DJ-12 or E. coli to the lux or luc marker gene. The dnaKp-DJ::luxCDABE bioluminescent fusion in the biosensor using the Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12 dnaK promoter exhibited about 5-fold more extensive response to ethanol than that of dnaKp-EC::luxCDABE. The bioluminescent response of the dnaK-DJ::luc fusion to ethanol was much weaker than those of the other fusions. The biosensor harboring the dnaKp-DJ::luCDABE fusion was examined for its bioluminescence production based on exposure to aromatic compounds, such as biphenyl, 4-chlorobiphenyl (4CB), 4-hydroxybenzoate (4HBA), and catechol. In particular, the bioluminescence produced by the dnaKp-DJ::luxCDABE fusion was most sensitive to 1 mM biphenyl and 4CB when exposed for 80 min, and the responses were also very strong to other aromatics. Therefore, the biosensor bearing the dnaKp-DJ::luxCDABE fusion would appear to be the most useful for the detection of aromatics and other pollutants.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.187-190
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• 2000

Effects of gamma ionizing radiation on recombinant Escherichia coli cells containing stress promoters, recA, fabA, grpE, or katG, fused to luxCDABE originated from Vibrio fischeri were characterized by monitoring transcriptional responses reflected by bioluminescent output. Quantification of gamma-ray intensity may be possible using the recA and fabA promoter fusion since a linear enhancement of bioluminescence emission with increasing gamma-ray intensity was observed. Other strains sensitive to either oxidative stress (DPD2511, katG::luxCDABE) or protein-damaging stress (TV1061, grpE::luxCDABE) were also irradiated by gamma-rays, and resulted in no noticeable bioluminescent output while DPD2794 with recA promoter and DPD2540 with fabA promoter irradiated by the same intensities of gamma-rays gave a significant bioluminescent output. This indicates that the main stresses in the recombinant bacteria caused by ionizing radiation are DNA and membrane-damage, not protein- or oxidative-damage. In addition, in this study, to investigate the relationship between the radiation dose rate and bacterial responses, two recombinant Escherichia coli strains, DPD2794 and GC2, containing lac promoter fused to luxCDABE originating from Photorhapdus luminescences, were used for detecting DNA damage and cellular toxicity under various radiation dose rates. Throughout this study, it was found that these bacteria showed quantitative stress responses to DNA damage and general toxicity caused by gamma rays, depending on the radiation dose rates, indicating that the bacterial stress responses and general toxicity were seriously influenced according to radiation dose rates.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.70-74
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• 2003

The heterogeneous bioluminescence immunoassay for digoxin was developed using photoprotein, native aequorin as a label and the site-directed immobilization technique based on avidin/biotin interaction. Aequorin is a bioluminescence protein, originally isolated from the jellyfish Aequoria Victoria and an attractive label in analytical applications because of sensitive detection due to virtually no background bioluminescent signal. Digoxin is a cardioactive drug, and its therapeutic level in serum is at low concentration with very narrow therapeutic index. The aequorin-digoxigenin conjugates were synthesized by the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester method and characterized in terms of bioluminescent residual activity. The resulting dose-response curve shows that the detection limit is $1.0\;{\times}\;10^{-10}\;M$ and a dynamic range is three orders of magnitude, which was obtained by $1.0\;{times}\;10^{-10}\;M$ conjugate and 0.9 μg/mL anti-digoxin antibody. Three structurally similar molecules to digoxin were examined for their cross-reactivity. None of these three compounds showed any crossreactivity with digoxin antibody employed in this study. Standard amounts of digoxin corresponding to the therapeutic range were spiked into the each serum solution. Study of the serum matrix effect indicated that correlation coefficient shows good agreement between luminescence light intensity between in buffer and in serum.