Microbial biosensor systems (MBS) are useful for analyte detection owing to their low cost, sensitivity, and selectivity for bioavailable analytes. Due to typically poor shelf-life and sensitivity to external conditions, there are few reports of MBS technology applied to simple analytical devices. The effectiveness of air-drying MBS in natural polymers was investigated as a novel preservation technique. Two colorimetric Escherichia coli MBS, a tetracycline-inducible reporter and an arsenate-inducible reporter, were dried on various substrates yielding novel MBS platforms. In proof-of-concept experiments performed in 96-well microplates, both systems demonstrated responsivity after air-drying in low concentrations of pullulan. However, the MBS were unresponsive following brief storage of 1 week. To improve the preservation of MBS, sensing strips were created by air-drying concentrated acacia gum-based MBS suspensions onto paper. Cells dried on these strips demonstrated responsivity upon solubilization in various tube-based assays. MBS sensing strip responsivity was demonstrated following storage for 6 weeks at 4 °C. Tetracycline-responsive sensing strips also performed well in assays using spiked lake water samples. Air-drying in natural polymers was an effective MBS preservation technique, and allowed for the creation of “mix and read” style assays which were simple, equipment-free and ready-to-use. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/22744 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Salvo, Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Brennan, John, Chemical Biology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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