Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #82817
Title: BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOPHYSICS, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EFFECTS OF HIGH OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS ON MICROBIAL BIOSENSOR SIGNALS: HYPEROXYGENATION BY MEANS OF PERFLUORODECALINE

Author
item RESHETILOV, ANATOLY - RUSSIAN ACAD SCI
item EFREMOV, D - RUSSIAN ACAD SCI
item ILIASOV, PAVEL - RUSSIAN ACAD SCI
item KUKUSHKIN, N - RUSSIAN ACAD SCI
item Greene, Richard
item Leathers, Timothy
item BORONIN, ALEXANDER - RUSSIAN ACAD SCI

Submitted to: Russian Academy of Sciences Proceedings
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/29/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Agricultural byproducts and abundant commodities can in principle be converted into a wide variety of value-added coproducts, including sugars, chemicals, and ethanol. However, practical new technologies are needed to detect and monitor these coproducts in real time under field conditions. Current methods suffer from slow response times, high maintenance and high cost. Biosensors (electronic instruments utilizing bacterial cells) can detect many materials of interest and are inexpensive, reliable and simple to operate. Nevertheless, biosensors have distinctive problems that have hindered their widespread adoption in bioprocess monitoring. One such problem is that biosensors are able to detect coproducts only within limited concentration ranges. We discovered that the useful detection range of a sugar biosensor was extended by the addition of a particular compound that increased dissolved oxygen available to the sensor. This work will be of basic interest to investigators developing new and improved biosensors, and to manufacturers seeking new uses for agricultural materials. This work will in turn benefit producers by fostering new and expanded markets for farm commodities.

Technical Abstract: The completely fluorinated organic substance perfluorodecaline was used to hyperoxygenate the base medium of microbial sensors for detection of sugars and other chemicals. Amperometric microbial sensors based on immobilized cells of Gluconobacter oxydans are inexpensive, rugged and reliable. However, available dissolved oxygen is a limiting factor for response of Clark-type electrodes. Perfluorodecaline increased oxygen concentration from 13 to 58 mg/l, resulting in improved biosensor sensitivity and extended substrate response range. Results suggest that hyperoxygenation may be a new general principle for modulating biosensor responses.