A novel whole-cell biosensor for the determination of trichloroethylene

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is one of common pollutants in soil and groundwater. TCE has a recalcitrant pollutant that is uneasy to degrade by microorganisms. A novel microbial biosensor based on Pseudomonas sp. strain ASA86 was developed for the TCE detection. A chloride ion electrode was employed as a transducer to detect the released chloride ions from TCE degraded by the bacteria, which was immobilized on a porous cellulose nitrate membrane. The performance of the biosensor was evaluated at different TCE concentrations, with different concentrations of the immobilized bacteria, pH levels, temperatures, and with different interferents. There was a linear relationship between biosensor response and TCE concentration ranging up to 4 mg/L, and the response could be detected up to 0.05 mg/L TCE concentration. The biosensor response showed good reproducibility (relative standard deviation of 6.1%) at 0.5 mg/L TCE concentration. The detection time was about 5 min under the optimum conditions of the biosensor. The optimal response was obtained at pH 8.0 and 30 degrees C. Compounds that have molecular structures similar to that of TCE did not significantly affect the response of the biosensor. The biosensor response remained stable over five days. This TCE biosensor shows enough sensitivity for environmental monitoring. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.