A Miniaturized Microbe-Silicon-Chip Based on Bioluminescent Engineered Escherichia coli for the Evaluation of Water Quality and Safety

Emanuele Luigi Sciuto, Domenico Corso, Sebania Libertino, Jan Roelof van der Meer, Giuseppina Faro and Maria Anna Coniglio
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Emanuele Luigi Sciuto: Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Policlinico “G. Rodolico-San Marco”, Via S. Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
Domenico Corso: Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi–Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-IMM), Ottava Strada 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
Sebania Libertino: Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi–Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-IMM), Ottava Strada 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
Jan Roelof van der Meer: Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Bâtiment Biophore, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Giuseppina Faro: Azienda Sanitaria Provinciale di Catania, Via S. Maria La Grande 5, 95124 Catania, Italy
Maria Anna Coniglio: Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Policlinico “G. Rodolico-San Marco”, Via S. Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-11

Abstract: Conventional high throughput methods assaying the chemical state of water and the risk of heavy metal accumulation share common constraints of long and expensive analytical procedures and dedicated laboratories due to the typical bulky instrumentation. To overcome these limitations, a miniaturized optical system for the detection and quantification of inorganic mercury (Hg 2+ ) in water was developed. Combining the bioactivity of a light-emitting mercury-specific engineered Escherichia coli —used as sensing element—with the optical performance of small size and inexpensive Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM)—used as detector—the system is able to detect mercury in low volumes of water down to the concentration of 1 µg L ?1 , which is the tolerance value indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO), providing a highly sensitive and miniaturized tool for in situ water quality analysis.

Keywords: water analysis; engineered Escherichia coli; miniaturizable optical system; mercury sensing; SiPM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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