Monitoring of infection volatile markers using CMOS-based luminescent bioreporters

Junning Ma; Boris Veltman; Zipora Tietel; Leah Tsror; Yang Liu; Evgeni Eltzov

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121333

Monitoring of infection volatile markers using CMOS-based luminescent bioreporters

Talanta. 2020 Nov 1:219:121333. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121333. Epub 2020 Jul 5.

Authors

Junning Ma¹, Boris Veltman², Zipora Tietel³, Leah Tsror⁴, Yang Liu⁵, Evgeni Eltzov⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Postharvest Science, Institute of Postharvest and Food Sciences, The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel; Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Department of Postharvest Science, Institute of Postharvest and Food Sciences, The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel; Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel.
³ Food Quality and Safety, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Research Center, MP Negev, Israel.
⁴ Department of Plant Pathology, Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Research Center, Negev, Israel.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁶ Department of Postharvest Science, Institute of Postharvest and Food Sciences, The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel; Agro-Nanotechnology Research Center, Agriculture Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Rishon LeZion, 7505101, Israel. Electronic address: eltzov@volcani.agri.gov.il.

PMID: 32887066
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121333

Abstract

Over the past two decades, whole-cell biosensors (WCBs) have been widely used in the environmental field, with only few applications proposed for use in agricultural. This study describes the development and optimization of a WCB for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that is produced specifically by infected potato tubers. First, the effect of calcium-alginate matrix formation (beads vs. tablets) on the membrane uniformity and sensing efficiency was evaluated. Then, important parameters in the immobilization process were examined for their effect on the sensitivity to the presence of VOCs. The highest sensitivity to the target VOC was obtained by 20 min polymerization of bacterial suspension with optical density of 0.2 at 600 nm, dissolved in low-viscosity sodium alginate (1.5% w/v) and exposure to VOC at 4 °C. After optimization, the lowest limit of detection for three infection-sourced VOCs (nonanal, 3-methyl-1-butanol, and 1-octen-3-ol) was 0.17-, 2.03-, and 2.09-mg/L, respectively, and the sensor sensitivity was improved by 8.9-, 3.1- and 2-fold, respectively. Then, the new optimized immobilization protocol was implemented for the CMOS-based application, which increased the sensor sensitivity to VOC by 3-fold during real-time measurement. This is the first step in creating a sensor for real-time monitoring of crop quality by identifying changes in VOC patterns.

Keywords: Bioluminescent bacteria; CMOS; Calcium alginate immobilization; Post-harvest infections; Volatile organic compounds; Whole-cell biosensors.

MeSH terms

Agriculture
Biosensing Techniques*
Environmental Monitoring
Volatile Organic Compounds*

Substances

Volatile Organic Compounds