Title

Construction and initial characterization of a luminescent Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 Fe-dependent bioreporter

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-9-2002

Publication Title

FEMS Microbiology Letters

Volume

209

Issue

2

First Page

215

Keywords

Bioluminescence, Bioreporter, Cyanobacteria, Fe deficiency, Lake Erie, Synechococcus

Last Page

221

Abstract

A Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 bioreporter strain capable of sensing bioavailable Fe was constructed by fusing the Fe-responsive isiAB promoter to the Vibrio harveyi luxAB genes. Monitoring luxAB-dependent luminescence through the growth curve demonstrated that in Fe-replete media, transcription from the isiAB promoter was induced transiently in the mid-exponential phase of growth. The initiation of transcription was the functional response to a 10-fold depletion of intracellular Fe to ∼12 amol Fe per cell. Constitutive isiAB-dependent transcription was observed in Fe-depleted growth media. A dose-response relationship of the bioreporter was generated using trace metal-buffered Fraquil medium and was best represented by a sigmoidal curve having a linear component extending between pFe 21.1 (Fe3+=10-21.1 M) and pFe 20.6 (Fe3+=10-20.6 M). Initial field trials conducted using water sampled from Lake Erie demonstrate that the bioreporter can serve as a quantitative tool to assess Fe deficiency in natural freshwater environments. © 2002 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI

10.1016/S0378-1097(02)00567-0

ISSN

03781097

PubMed ID

12007808

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