Bioreporter bacteria for landmine detection

Landmines (and other UXO) gradually leak explosive chemicals into the soil at significant concentrations. Bacteria, which have adapted to scavenge low concentrations of nutrients, can detect these explosive chemicals. Uptake of these chemicals results in the triggering of specific bacterial genes. The authors have created genetically recombinant bioreporter bacteria that detect small concentrations of energetic chemicals. These bacteria are genetically engineered to produce a bioluminescent signal when they contact specific explosives. A gene for a brightly fluorescent compound can be substituted for increased sensitivity. By finding the fluorescent bacteria, you find the landmine. Detection might be accomplished using stand-off illumination of the minefield and GPS technology, which would result in greatly reduced risk to the deminers. Bioreporter technology has been proven at the laboratory scale, and will be tested under field conditions in the near future. They have created a bacterial strain that detects sub-micromolar concentrations of o- and p-nitrotoluene. Related bacterial strains were produced using standard laboratory protocols, and bioreporters of dinitrotoluene and trinitrotoluene were produced, screening for activity with the explosive compounds. Response time is dependent on the growth rate of the bacteria. Although frill signal production may require several hours, the bacteria can be applied over vast areas and scanned quickly, producing an equivalent detection speed that is very fast. This technology may be applicable to other needs, such as locating buried explosives at military and ordnance/explosive manufacturing facilities

Development and application of the lux gene for environmental bioremediation

Bioremediation is the use of living systems, usually microorganisms, to treat a quantity of soil or water for the presence of hazardous wastes. Bioremediation has many advantages over other remediation approaches, including cost savings, versatility, and the ability to treat the wastes in situ. In order to study the processes of microbial bioremediation, the authors have constructed bacterial strains that incorporate genetically engineered bioreporter genes. These bioreporter genes allow the bacteria to be detected during in situ processes, as manifested by their ability to bioluminescence or to fluoresce. This bioreporter microorganisms are described, along with the technology for detecting them and the projects which are benefiting from their application

Illuminating the detection chain of bacterial bioreporters.

Engineering bacteria for measuring chemicals of environmental or toxicological concern (bioreporter bacteria) has grown slowly into a mature research area. Despite many potential advantages, current bioreporters do not perform well enough to comply with environmental detection standards. Basically, the reasons for this are the lack of engineering principles in the detection chain in the bioreporters. Here, we dissect critical steps in the detection chain and illustrate how bioreporter design could be improved by mutagenizing specificity and selectivity of the sensing and regulatory proteins, by newer expression strategies and application of different signalling networks. Furthermore, we describe how redesigning bioreporter assays with respect to pollutant transport into the cells and application of other detection devices can decrease detection limits and increase the speed of detection