A Microbial Electrochemical Technology to Detect and Degrade Organophosphate Pesticides.

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides cause hundreds of illnesses and deaths annually. Unfortunately, exposures are often detected by monitoring degradation products in blood and urine, with few effective methods for detection and remediation at the point of dispersal. We have developed an innovative strategy to remediate these compounds: an engineered microbial technology for the targeted detection and destruction of OP pesticides. This system is based upon microbial electrochemistry using two engineered strains. The strains are combined such that the first microbe (E. coli) degrades the pesticide, while the second (S. oneidensis) generates current in response to the degradation product without requiring external electrochemical stimulus or labels. This cellular technology is unique in that the E. coli serves only as an inert scaffold for enzymes to degrade OPs, circumventing a fundamental requirement of coculture design: maintaining the viability of two microbial strains simultaneously. With this platform, we can detect OP degradation products at submicromolar levels, outperforming reported colorimetric and fluorescence sensors. Importantly, this approach affords a modular, adaptable strategy that can be expanded to additional environmental contaminants.

Electrochemical Sensors to Detect Bacterial Foodborne Pathogens.

Bacterial foodborne pathogens cause millions of illnesses each year and disproportionately impact those in developing countries. To combat these diseases and their spread, effective monitoring of foodborne pathogens is needed. Technologies to detect these microbes must be deployable at the point-of-contamination, often in nonideal environments. Electrochemical sensors are uniquely suited for field-deployable monitoring, as they are quantitative, rapid, and do not require expensive instrumentation. When combined with the inherent recognition capabilities of biomolecules, electrochemistry is unmatched for quantitative biological measurements with minimal equipment requirements. This Review is centered on recent advances in electrochemical sensors for the detection of bacterial foodborne pathogens with a specific emphasis on field-deployable platforms, as this is a key requirement of any technology that could effectively halt the spread of foodborne diseases. Innovative electrochemical sensing strategies are highlighted that demonstrate the ability of these technologies to achieve high sensitivity and large detection ranges with rapid readout. Sensing strategies are categorized on the basis of whether they incorporate biological pretreatments or biorecognition elements, and their key advantages and disadvantages are summarized. As this class of sensors continues to mature, methods to incorporate device specificity and to detect targets from complex solutions will enable the translation of these platforms from laboratory prototypes to real-world implementation.

Designing yeast as plant-like hyperaccumulators for heavy metals.

Hyperaccumulators typically refer to plants that absorb and tolerate elevated amounts of heavy metals. Due to their unique metal trafficking abilities, hyperaccumulators are promising candidates for bioremediation applications. However, compared to bacteria-based bioremediation systems, plant life cycle is long and growing conditions are difficult to maintain hindering their adoption. Herein, we combine the robust growth and engineerability of bacteria with the unique waste management mechanisms of plants by using a more tractable platform-the common baker's yeast-to create plant-like hyperaccumulators. Through overexpression of metal transporters and engineering metal trafficking pathways, engineered yeast strains are able to sequester metals at concentrations 10-100 times more than established hyperaccumulator thresholds for chromium, arsenic, and cadmium. Strains are further engineered to be selective for either cadmium or strontium removal, specifically for radioactive Sr90. Overall, this work presents a systematic approach for transforming yeast into metal hyperaccumulators that are as effective as their plant counterparts.