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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

An Anaerobic Biosensor Assay for the Detection of Mercury and Cadmium
Published on: December 17, 2018
Modulation of base selectivity for a base-discriminating fluorescent nucleobase by addition of mercury ion
Akimitsu Okamoto1, Yuji Ochi, Isao Saito
1Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan. okamoto@sbchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
We altered the fluorescence emission selectivity of a base-discriminating fluorescent base, (Py)U, from A-selective to T-selective by the addition of mercury ion. The strong fluorescence from a duplex containing the (Py)U/T base pair was specific to the mercury ion among divalent metal ions, providing a unique method for sensing mercury ions in aqueous solutions.
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