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From 2011.igem.org

Building a Naphthenic Acid Biosensor

title=Rational Design of a Pseudomonas Promoter| bodytext=

In order to build a Naphthenic Acid (NA) biosensor, it is important to establish a DNA responsive element which can selectively respond to varying concentrations of naphthenic acids. Because of the often highly variable composition of naphthenic acids as well as their surroundings, this DNA element would be required to be highly selective. Varying pressures such as stress responses, degradation pathways of varous compounds, and other pathways could be considered to provide background to a potential DNA response element. All of these provide a challenge to developing the promoter for our biosensor.

Pseudomonas As A Suitable Chassis For A Naphthenic Acid BioSensor

While E. coli has been well characterized in the lab as a useful strain for development of synthetic biology tools, it is difficult to implement for use in tailing ponds, or the detection of naphthenic acids. As can be seen in Figure 1, E. coli is sensitive to commercially available naphthenic acids.