The toxins won't go away
Bacterial enzymes will help detect toxic compounds in food
Institute of Biophysics SB RAS
Krasnoyarsk scientists have created a biosensor from bacterial enzymes to analyze the safety of soil and food. It is easy to use, sensitive to various toxic chemical compounds and will quickly identify unsafe pollutants in fruits and vegetables. The results of the study are published in the journal Talanta (Esimbekova et al., Design of bioluminescent biosensors for assessing contamination of complex matrices).
Soil and associated plant products can accumulate potentially dangerous compounds for humans. Toxicants, when ingested into living organisms, interfere with molecular processes, and also trigger a cascade of unpredictable effects that lead to health problems. Therefore, one of the priorities is to assess the level of pollution and to develop highly sensitive, inexpensive and relatively simple methods for analyzing the environment and food for the presence of toxic substances.
Scientists of the Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences together with colleagues from the Siberian Federal University have developed bioluminescent biosensors for assessing toxic contamination in soil and food products. Enzymes that are highly sensitive to the action of various toxicants are used as the recognition elements of such sensors.
The biosensor is based on bioluminescent enzymes of luminous bacteria. The analysis itself records changes in the intensity of the enzyme glow under the influence of toxic impurities. The quality of the analyzed samples is assessed by the strength of the impact on the light signal. Suppression of the glow of enzymes is proportional to the amount of toxic substances in the samples. This reaction takes place quickly, it is easy to perform and is very sensitive to various toxic chemical compounds present in the environment and food.
The developed bioluminescent sensors are able to detect food pollutants such as heavy metals (zinc, copper, mercury and chromium ions) and pesticides (hexachlorane, organochlorine pesticides, diazinone, deltamethrin, cypermethrin and copper sulfate) at the levels of their maximum permissible concentrations.
The scientists tested biosensors on samples of tomatoes and cucumbers, which were intentionally injected with polluting elements. The added toxicants reduced the glow of biosensors.
"The analysis of the content of toxic substances in complex environments requires overcoming a number of difficulties, including taking into account the influence of natural components in the sample on the functioning of the recognizing enzyme. The developed algorithm allows you to take into account this influence, and even minimize it to achieve more accurate results. Such biosensors can be used to solve a number of tasks, for example, to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the safety of fruits and vegetables. The uniqueness of the design scheme of enzymatic sensors developed by us lies in its versatility. Indeed, using this algorithm, it is possible to develop a whole series of different biosensors based on the use of various enzymes. Since enzymes have selective sensitivity to pollutants in the future, this will allow us to develop a complex of biosensors for ecotoxicology, which allows us to quickly and accurately answer the question about the presence of toxic substances in samples," said one of the authors of the work, Elena Yessimbekova, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Biophysics, FITC KNC SB RAS.
Scientists note that the developed biosensor is portable – it is small in size and weighs less than 300 grams. Therefore, it can be used for analysis both in the laboratory and in the field. All materials and reagents used to make the sensor are available and relatively inexpensive. This allows the development to be used as an early warning system and an assessment of the safety of fruits and vegetables.
The work was carried out within the framework of a joint project of the RFBR, the Government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Krasnoyarsk Regional Science Foundation, No. 20-44-242001.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru