Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in water and soil is considered an environmental pollutant. Food crops can absorb and accumulate bioavailable Cd. Continuous monitoring of Cd levels in the environment can minimize exposure and harm to humans. Visual pigments have been demonstrated to have great potential in the development of minimal-equipment biosensors. In the present study, a metabolically engineered bacterium was employed to produce blue-purple pigment violacein responsive to toxic Cd(II). The high stability of the bisindole pigment contributed to determining the violacein at wavelengths of 578 nm. Visual and quantifiable signals could be captured after a 1.5-h Cd(II) exposure. This novel biosensor showed significantly stronger responses to Cd(II) than to other heavy metals including Pb(II), Zn(II), and Hg(II). A significant increase in pigment signal was found to respond to as low as 0.049 μM Cd(II). The naked eye can detect the color change when violacein-based biosensor is exposed to 25 μM Cd(II). A high-throughput method for rapid determination of soluble Cd(II) in environmental water was developed using a colorimetric microplate.

Details

Title
Detection of environmental pollutant cadmium in water using a visual bacterial biosensor
Author
Chang-ye, Hui 1 ; Guo, Yan 2 ; Li, Han 3 ; Chao-xian, Gao 4 ; Yi, Juan 4 

 Shenzhen Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases, Department of Pathology and Toxicology, Shenzhen, China 
 National Key Clinical Specialty of Occupational Diseases, Shenzhen Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases, Shenzhen, China 
 Hebei North University, College of Lab Medicine, Zhangjiakou, China (GRID:grid.412026.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1776 2036) 
 Shenzhen Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases, Department of Pathology and Toxicology, Shenzhen, China (GRID:grid.412026.3) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2655943368
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.