Karbelkar Amruta A, Reynolds Erin E, Ahlmark Rachel, Furst Ariel L
Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
ACS Cent Sci. 2021 Oct 27;7(10):1718-1727. doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.1c00931. Epub 2021 Sep 21.
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 () degrades the pesticide, while the second () generates current in response to the degradation product without requiring external electrochemical stimulus or labels. This cellular technology is unique in that the 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.
有机磷酸酯（OP）农药每年导致数百起疾病和死亡事件。不幸的是，通常通过监测血液和尿液中的降解产物来检测接触情况，在分散点几乎没有有效的检测和修复方法。我们开发了一种创新策略来修复这些化合物：一种用于靶向检测和销毁OP农药的工程微生物技术。该系统基于使用两种工程菌株的微生物电化学。这些菌株组合在一起，使得第一种微生物（ ）降解农药，而第二种微生物（ ）在无需外部电化学刺激或标记的情况下，对降解产物产生电流。这种细胞技术的独特之处在于， 仅作为酶降解OP的惰性支架，规避了共培养设计的一个基本要求：同时维持两种微生物菌株的活力。借助这个平台，我们能够检测亚微摩尔水平的OP降解产物，性能优于已报道的比色和荧光传感器。重要的是，这种方法提供了一种模块化、适应性强的策略，可扩展到其他环境污染物。
