Date Available

2-21-2011

Year of Publication

2010

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Document Type

Thesis

College

Arts and Sciences

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Dr. Sylvia Daunert,

Abstract

The full exploitation of bacterial whole-cell biosensing systems in field applications requires the survival of bacterial cells and long term-preservation of their sensing ability during transportation and on-site storage of such analytical systems. Specifically, there is a need for rapid, simple and inexpensive biosensing systems for monitoring human health and the environment in remote areas which often suffer from harsh atmospheric conditions and inadequate commercial distribution and storage facilities. Our laboratory has previously reported the successful use of bacterial spores as vehicles for the long-term preservation and storage of whole-cell biosensing systems at room temperature.

In the present research, we have accomplished a year-long study to investigate the effect of extreme climatic conditions on the stability of spores-based whole-cell biosensing systems. The spores were stored in laboratory conditions that simulated those found in real harsh environments and germination ability and analytical performance of the spore-based sensing systems upon storage in such conditions was monitored. Our results proved that the intrinsic resistance of spores to harsh environmental conditions helped maintain the integrity of the sensor bacteria. The revived active cells actually retained their analytical performance during the course of the twelve-month storage study.

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