Abstract
A ZraP-based lead sensing and removal system was constructed in E. coli. It was regulated by the ZraS/ZraR two-component system. The expression profile of the zraP gene towards extracellular lead was studied via real-time PCR. A dual-function bacterial system was also designed to express GFP and OmpC-lead binding peptide under the control of zraP for the simultaneous sensing and adsorption of environmental lead without additional manipulation. The constructed bacterial system can emit fluorescence and it adsorbed a maximum of 487 µmol lead/g cell DCW. From a study of artificial wastewater, the constructed bacteria adsorbed lead highly selectively (427 µmol lead/g cell DCW) among other metal ions. The newly-constructed dual function bacterial system can be applied for the development of an efficient process for the removal of lead from polluted wastes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aljundi IH, Khleifat KM (2010) Biosorption of lead by E. coli strains expressing Vitreoscilla hemoglobin: isotherm modeling with two-and three-parameter models. Eng Life Sci 10:225–232
Barakat MA (2011) New trends in removing heavy metals from industrial wastewater. Arab J Chem 4:361–377
Behera SK, Rene ER, Murthy DVS (2008) Effect of hydraulic retention time and initial nitrate concentration on the performance of an upflow anoxic bioreactor: a factorial design study. Ind Chem Eng 50(1):27–33
Bloois EV, Winter RT et al (2011) Decorating microbes: surface display of proteins on Escherichia coli. Trends Biotechnol 29:79–86
Cherian S, Gupta RK, Mullin BC, Thundat T (2003) Detection of heavy metal ions using protein-functionalized microcantilever sensors. Biosens Bioelectr 19:411–416
Cheung J, Hendrickson WA (2010) Sensor domains of two-component regulatory systems. Curr Opin Microbiol 13:116–123
Eleaume H, Jabbouri S (2004) Comparison of two standardisation methods in real-time quantitative RT-PCR to follow Staphylococcus aureus genes expression during in vitro growth. J Microbiol Meth 59:363–370
Gupta VK, Rastogi A (2008) Biosorption of lead(II) from aqueous solutions by non-living algal biomass Oedogonium sp. and Nostoc sp.—a comparative study. Colloid Surf B 64:170–178
Gupta S, Saxena M, Saini N, Mahmooduzzafar Kumar R, Kumar A (2012) An effective strategy for a whole-cell biosensor based on putative effector interaction site of the regulatory DmpR protein. PLoS Biol 7:e43527
Jarosławiecka A, Piotrowska-Seget Z (2014) Lead resistance in micro-organisms. Microbiology 160:12–25
Khaoya S, Pancharoen U (2012) Removal of lead (II) from battery industry wastewater by HFSLM. Intern J Chem Eng Appl 3:98–103
Lång H (2000) Outer membrane proteins as surface display systems. Int J Med Microbiol 290:579–585
Leonhartsberger S, Huber A et al (2001) The hydH/G genes from Escherichia coli code for a zinc and lead responsive two-component regulatory system. J Mol Biol 307:93–105
Mishra PC, Patel RK (2009) Removal of lead and zinc ions from water by low cost adsorbents. J Hazard Mater 168:319–325
Naik MM, Dubey SK (2013) Lead resistant bacteria: lead resistance mechanisms, their applications in lead bioremediation and biomonitoring. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 98:1–7
Nguyen TL, Lee H et al (2013) Selective lead adsorption by recombinant Escherichia coli displaying a lead-binding peptide. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 169:1188–1196
Raja CE, Selvam GS (2011) Construction of green fluorescent protein based bacterial biosensor for heavy metal remediation. Int J Environ Sci Tech 8:793–798
Ravikumar S, Yoo IK et al (2011) A study on the dynamics of the zraP gene expression profile and its application to the construction of zinc adsorption bacteria. Bioproc Biosyst Eng 34:1119–1126
Ravikumar S, Ganesh I et al (2012) Construction of a bacterial biosensor for zinc and copper and its application to the development of multifunctional heavy metal adsorption bacteria. Proc Biochem 47:758–765
Sag Y, Özer D, Kutsal T (1995) A comparative study of the biosorption of lead(II) ions to Z. ramigera and R. arrhizus. Proc Biochem 30:169–174
Vinopal S, Ruml T, Kotrba T (2007) Biosorption of Cd2+ and Zn2+ by cell surface-engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Int Biodeterior Biodegrad 60:96–102
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the 2013 Research Fund of the University of Ulsan.
Supporting information
Fourier analysis and results
Supplementary Table 1—List of bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study
Supplementary Table 2—Primers used in this work
Supplementary Table 3—Colony count analysis table
Supplementary Fig. 1—The recombinant E. coli senses lead via periplasmic receptors, which phosphorylate the histidine kinase domain and the response regulator
Supplementary Fig. 2—FT-IR analysis of biomass for bioadsorption study after induction with lead at 1 mM
Supplementary Fig. 3—Growth curve analysis of recombinant bacteria after including with various concentrations of lead
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Maruthamuthu, M.k., Ganesh, I., Ravikumar, S. et al. Evaluation of zraP gene expression characteristics and construction of a lead (Pb) sensing and removal system in a recombinant Escherichia coli . Biotechnol Lett 37, 659–664 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-014-1732-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-014-1732-x