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Updated: May 21, 2026

Development of an Electrochemical DNA Biosensor to Detect a Foodborne Pathogen
Published on: June 3, 2018
An E. coli SOS-EGFP biosensor for fast and sensitive detection of DNA damaging agents
Zhilan Chen1, Meiling Lu, Dandan Zou
1Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
Abstract:
An E. coli SOS-EGFP biosensor which expresses enhanced green fluorescent protein as a reporter protein under the control of recA gene promoter in SOS response was constructed for detection of DNA damage and evaluation of DNA damaging chemicals. The chemicals that may cause substantial DNA damage will trigger SOS response in the constructed bacterial biosensor, and then the reporter egfp gene under the control of recA promoter is stimulated to express as a fluorescent protein, allowing fast and sensitive fluorescence detection. Interestingly, this biosensor can be simultaneously applied for evaluation of genotoxicity and cytotoxicity. The SOS-EGFP bacterial biosensor provides a sensitive, specific and simple method for detecting known and potential DNA damaging chemicals.
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