ARS | Publication request: Screening of the Substrate Properties of Microorganisms for Biosensor Detection of Oligosaccharides

Submitted to: Biosensors World Congress
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: May 12, 2006
Publication Date: May 12, 2006
Citation: Kitova, A.E., Reshetilov, A.N., Leathers, T.D., Cotta, M.A. 2006. Screening of the substrate properties of microorganisms for biosensor detection of oligosaccharides [abstract]. Biosensors 2006. Paper No. P40.

Technical Abstract: The detection of mono-, oligo-, and polysaccharides is of current concern in the production of biologically active additives for food, feed, and cosmetics. In particular, it would be desirable to determine the content of prebiotic oligosaccharides such as fructo-, gluco-, and galactooligosaccharides. Few works dwell on the creation of microbial sensors for detection of oligosaccharides; however, a microbial sensor for sucrose and lactose detection has been described [J. Svitel et al., Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem. 1998. V. 27. No. 2]. Microorganisms often are able to oxidize a wide range of substrates. This is useful for analysis of complex mixtures, but creates problems in terms of substrate specificity. However, microorganisms can be used as receptor elements in analytical systems containing a set of sensors [Lobanov et al., Biosens. Bioelectron. 2001. V. 16]. In such systems specificity is obtained by the use of multi-channel detection and methods of chemometrics. The goal of this work was the screening of microorganisms for their ability to oxidize oligosaccharides. Yeast strains Pichia angusta Y-1397 and Arxula adeninovorans Y-78(6), and bacterial strains Rhodococcus sp. R 20, Gluconobacter oxydans subsp. industries B-1280, G. oxydans subsp. melanogenes B-1227, G. oxydans subsp. suboxydans, Escherichia coli K-802, and Bacillus subtilis were chosen for study. The transducer of the biosensor was a Clark electrode. It was found that G. oxydans strains have a high oxidizing activity towards maltose, cellobiose, and melibiose. Strain E. coli K-802 was characterized by high sensitivity to maltose, while sensor signals for other oligosaccharides were practically absent. Strain B. subtilis showed the highest sensitivity towards sucrose. The results suggest that a set of 4 biosensors based on the strains G. oxydans subsp. industries B-1280, G. oxydans subsp. melanogenes B-1227, G. oxydans subsp. suboxydans, E. coli K-802, B. subtilis, and Rhodococcus sp. R-20 has potential for selective detection of maltose, cellobiose, sucrose, and melibiose mixtures.