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Updated: May 9, 2026
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Published on: October 16, 2015
Quantitative analysis of organophosphorus pesticides in freshwater using an optimized firefly luciferase-based
S M Marques1, J C G Esteves da Silva
1Centro de Investigação em Química da Universidade do Porto (CIQ-UP), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Abstract:
In this paper, a coupled bioluminescent assay, relying on the coupling of the enzymes acetylcholinesterase, S-acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase and firefly luciferase, for the detection and quantitation of organophosphorus pesticides, is presented. Using malathion as a model organophosphorus pesticide, the assay was optimized through statistical experimental design methodology, namely Plackett-Burman and central composite designs. The optimized method requires only 20 μL of sample. The linear range for the assay was 2.5-15 μM of malathion, with limits of detection and quantitation of 1.5 and 5.0 μM, respectively. This simple, fast and robust method allows samples to be analyzed at room temperature and without any pretreatment.
