An arsenic-specific biosensor with genetically engineered Shewanella oneidensis in a bioelectrochemical system

Dylan P. Webster; Michaela A. TerAvest; Devin F.R. Doud; Arun Chakravorty; Eric C. Holmes; Caleb M. Radens; Swati Sureka; Jeffrey A. Gralnick; Largus T. Angenent

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2014.07.003

An arsenic-specific biosensor with genetically engineered Shewanella oneidensis in a bioelectrochemical system

Dylan P. Webster, Michaela A. TerAvest, Devin F.R. Doud, Arun Chakravorty, Eric C. Holmes, Caleb M. Radens, Swati Sureka, Jeffrey A. Gralnick, Largus T. Angenent

Biotechnology Institute

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

127 Scopus citations

Abstract

Genetically engineered microbial biosensors have yet to realize commercial success in environmental applications due, in part, to difficulties associated with transducing and transmitting traditional bioluminescent information. Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) output a direct electric signal that can be incorporated into devices for remote environmental monitoring. Here, we describe a BES-based biosensor with genetically encoded specificity for a toxic metal. By placing an essential component of the metal reduction (Mtr) pathway of Shewanella oneidensis under the control of an arsenic-sensitive promoter, we have genetically engineered a strain that produces increased current in response to arsenic when inoculated into a BES. Our BES-based biosensor has a detection limit of ~40. μM arsenite with a linear range up to 100. μM arsenite. Because our transcriptional circuit relies on the activation of a single promoter, similar sensing systems may be developed to detect other analytes by the swap of a single genetic part.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	320-324
Number of pages	5
Journal	Biosensors and Bioelectronics
Volume	62
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2014.07.003
State	Published - Dec 15 2014

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Spencer Chen, Steven Chen, Charlie Chung, Danielle Huang, Rafael Lizarralde, Jim Mathew, Claire Paduano, Shweta Patro, Chie Shu, Mark Simpson, and Tina Su for assisting with benchwork; Drs. Shivaun Archer, Matthew DeLisa, Gene Madsen, and Xiling Shen of Cornell University for providing strains and laboratory resources; and Ali Awan, Elliot Friedman, Taylor Stevenson, and Dr. Didi Waraho for providing helpful advice on experimental methods. In addition, the authors appreciate the work of Maneesh Gupta, Daniel Levine, Kelvin Luu, Paras Sanghavi, Manuel Valdez, Lydia Wang, and Robert Zhang of the 2012 Cornell iGEM Drylab team. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This work was financially supported by the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative as part of the 2012 International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition, by an NSF CAREER grant ( 0939882 ) to Largus T. Angenent and by an Office of Naval Research grant ( N00014-12-1-0309 ) to Jeffrey A. Gralnick.

Keywords

Arsenic
Bioelectrochemical system (BES)
Continuous monitoring
Microbial biosensor
Shewanella
Synthetic biology

Access

10.1016/j.bios.2014.07.003

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

@article{29e999b74b134460af9423b939f1eb76,

title = "An arsenic-specific biosensor with genetically engineered Shewanella oneidensis in a bioelectrochemical system",

abstract = "Genetically engineered microbial biosensors have yet to realize commercial success in environmental applications due, in part, to difficulties associated with transducing and transmitting traditional bioluminescent information. Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) output a direct electric signal that can be incorporated into devices for remote environmental monitoring. Here, we describe a BES-based biosensor with genetically encoded specificity for a toxic metal. By placing an essential component of the metal reduction (Mtr) pathway of Shewanella oneidensis under the control of an arsenic-sensitive promoter, we have genetically engineered a strain that produces increased current in response to arsenic when inoculated into a BES. Our BES-based biosensor has a detection limit of ~40. μM arsenite with a linear range up to 100. μM arsenite. Because our transcriptional circuit relies on the activation of a single promoter, similar sensing systems may be developed to detect other analytes by the swap of a single genetic part.",

keywords = "Arsenic, Bioelectrochemical system (BES), Continuous monitoring, Microbial biosensor, Shewanella, Synthetic biology",

author = "Webster, {Dylan P.} and TerAvest, {Michaela A.} and Doud, {Devin F.R.} and Arun Chakravorty and Holmes, {Eric C.} and Radens, {Caleb M.} and Swati Sureka and Gralnick, {Jeffrey A.} and Angenent, {Largus T.}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank Spencer Chen, Steven Chen, Charlie Chung, Danielle Huang, Rafael Lizarralde, Jim Mathew, Claire Paduano, Shweta Patro, Chie Shu, Mark Simpson, and Tina Su for assisting with benchwork; Drs. Shivaun Archer, Matthew DeLisa, Gene Madsen, and Xiling Shen of Cornell University for providing strains and laboratory resources; and Ali Awan, Elliot Friedman, Taylor Stevenson, and Dr. Didi Waraho for providing helpful advice on experimental methods. In addition, the authors appreciate the work of Maneesh Gupta, Daniel Levine, Kelvin Luu, Paras Sanghavi, Manuel Valdez, Lydia Wang, and Robert Zhang of the 2012 Cornell iGEM Drylab team. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This work was financially supported by the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative as part of the 2012 International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition, by an NSF CAREER grant ( 0939882 ) to Largus T. Angenent and by an Office of Naval Research grant ( N00014-12-1-0309 ) to Jeffrey A. Gralnick. ",

year = "2014",

month = dec,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.bios.2014.07.003",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "62",

pages = "320--324",

journal = "Biosensors and Bioelectronics",

issn = "0956-5663",

publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - An arsenic-specific biosensor with genetically engineered Shewanella oneidensis in a bioelectrochemical system

AU - Webster, Dylan P.

AU - TerAvest, Michaela A.

AU - Doud, Devin F.R.

AU - Chakravorty, Arun

AU - Holmes, Eric C.

AU - Radens, Caleb M.

AU - Sureka, Swati

AU - Gralnick, Jeffrey A.

AU - Angenent, Largus T.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank Spencer Chen, Steven Chen, Charlie Chung, Danielle Huang, Rafael Lizarralde, Jim Mathew, Claire Paduano, Shweta Patro, Chie Shu, Mark Simpson, and Tina Su for assisting with benchwork; Drs. Shivaun Archer, Matthew DeLisa, Gene Madsen, and Xiling Shen of Cornell University for providing strains and laboratory resources; and Ali Awan, Elliot Friedman, Taylor Stevenson, and Dr. Didi Waraho for providing helpful advice on experimental methods. In addition, the authors appreciate the work of Maneesh Gupta, Daniel Levine, Kelvin Luu, Paras Sanghavi, Manuel Valdez, Lydia Wang, and Robert Zhang of the 2012 Cornell iGEM Drylab team. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This work was financially supported by the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative as part of the 2012 International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition, by an NSF CAREER grant ( 0939882 ) to Largus T. Angenent and by an Office of Naval Research grant ( N00014-12-1-0309 ) to Jeffrey A. Gralnick.

PY - 2014/12/15

Y1 - 2014/12/15

N2 - Genetically engineered microbial biosensors have yet to realize commercial success in environmental applications due, in part, to difficulties associated with transducing and transmitting traditional bioluminescent information. Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) output a direct electric signal that can be incorporated into devices for remote environmental monitoring. Here, we describe a BES-based biosensor with genetically encoded specificity for a toxic metal. By placing an essential component of the metal reduction (Mtr) pathway of Shewanella oneidensis under the control of an arsenic-sensitive promoter, we have genetically engineered a strain that produces increased current in response to arsenic when inoculated into a BES. Our BES-based biosensor has a detection limit of ~40. μM arsenite with a linear range up to 100. μM arsenite. Because our transcriptional circuit relies on the activation of a single promoter, similar sensing systems may be developed to detect other analytes by the swap of a single genetic part.

AB - Genetically engineered microbial biosensors have yet to realize commercial success in environmental applications due, in part, to difficulties associated with transducing and transmitting traditional bioluminescent information. Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) output a direct electric signal that can be incorporated into devices for remote environmental monitoring. Here, we describe a BES-based biosensor with genetically encoded specificity for a toxic metal. By placing an essential component of the metal reduction (Mtr) pathway of Shewanella oneidensis under the control of an arsenic-sensitive promoter, we have genetically engineered a strain that produces increased current in response to arsenic when inoculated into a BES. Our BES-based biosensor has a detection limit of ~40. μM arsenite with a linear range up to 100. μM arsenite. Because our transcriptional circuit relies on the activation of a single promoter, similar sensing systems may be developed to detect other analytes by the swap of a single genetic part.

KW - Arsenic

KW - Bioelectrochemical system (BES)

KW - Continuous monitoring

KW - Microbial biosensor

KW - Shewanella

KW - Synthetic biology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84904413347&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84904413347&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.bios.2014.07.003

DO - 10.1016/j.bios.2014.07.003

M3 - Article

C2 - 25038536

AN - SCOPUS:84904413347

SN - 0956-5663

VL - 62

SP - 320

EP - 324

JO - Biosensors and Bioelectronics

JF - Biosensors and Bioelectronics

ER -

An arsenic-specific biosensor with genetically engineered Shewanella oneidensis in a bioelectrochemical system

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access

OpenUrl availability

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this