Open Access

Yu Lei, Priti Mulchandani, Wilfred Chen, Ashok Mulchandani

• This paper reports a first microbial biosensor for rapid and cost-effective determination of organophosphorus pesticides fenitrothion and EPN. The biosensor consisted of recombinant PNP-degrading/oxidizing bacteria Pseudomonas putida JS444 anchoring and displaying organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) on its cell surface as biological sensing element and a dissolved oxygen electrode as the transducer. Surfaceexpressed OPH catalyzed the hydrolysis of fenitrothion and EPN to release 3-methyl-4-nitrophenol and p-nitrophenol, respectively, which were oxidized by the enzymatic machinery of Pseudomonas putida JS444 to carbon dioxide while consuming oxygen, which was measured and correlated to the concentration of organophosphates. Under the optimum operating conditions, the biosensor was able to measure as low as 277 ppb of fenitrothion and 1.6 ppm of EPN without interference from phenolic compounds and other commonly used pesticides such as carbamate pesticides, triazine herbicides and organophosphate pesticides without nitrophenyl substituent. The applicability of the biosensor to lake water was also demonstrated.