Selectivity enhancement of an Escherichia coli bacterial electrode using enzyme and transport inhibitors

The feasibility of using specific enzyme and transport inhibitors to minimize the glutamine response of a potentiometric microbial sensor is demonstrated. The glutamine response of a bacterial electrode prepared with Escherichia coli as the biocatalyst in conjunction with an ammonia gas-sensing electrode was greatly reduced by treating the electrode with the enzyme inhibitor 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DONL) and the transport inhibitor gamma-L-glutamylhydrazide. Each inhibitor effectively decreased glutamine response to a level sufficiently low to be considered negligible in clinical studies. Although the sensor ultimately recovered from the effects of a single exposure to an inhibitor, continuous exposure at an optimum concentration maintained a low response to glutamine. Furthermore, the treatment of the sensor with both inhibitors simultaneously resulted in a negligible response to glutamine of <1 mV, indicating that both inhibitors are necessary for optimum inhibition of glutamine response. This approach is promising as a means of enhancing the selectivity of microbial sensors.