A Microbial Electrochemical Technology to Detect and Degrade Organophosphate Pesticides
Name
karbelkar-et-al-2021-a-microbial-electrochemical-technology-to-detect-and-degrade-organophosphate-pesticides.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.43 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
8e7db8da2993ee44415a8965eb473678
Author(s)
Karbelkar, Amruta A
Reynolds, Erin E
Ahlmark, Rachel
Furst, Ariel L
Date Issued
October 27, 2021
Journal
ACS Central Science
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Citation
Amruta A. Karbelkar, Erin E. Reynolds, Rachel Ahlmark, and Ariel L. Furst. ACS Central Science 2021 7 (10), 1718-1727.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
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.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Environmental Health Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.1c00931
