Abstract
The unchecked dispersal of antipersonnel landmines since the late 19th century has resulted in large areas contaminated with these explosive devices, creating a substantial worldwide humanitarian safety risk. The main obstacle to safe and effective landmine removal is the identification of their exact location, an activity that currently requires entry of personnel into the minefields; to date, there is no commercialized technology for an efficient stand-off detection of buried landmines. In this article, we describe the optimization of a microbial sensor strain, genetically engineered for the remote detection of 2,4,6-trinitrotoloune (TNT)-based mines. This bioreporter, designed to bioluminescence in response to minute concentrations of either TNT or 2,4-dinitotoluene (DNT), was immobilized in hydrogel beads and optimized for dispersion over the minefield. Following modifications of the hydrogel matrix in which the sensor bacteria are encapsulated, as well as their genetic reporting elements, these sensor bacteria sensitively detected buried 2,4-dinitrotoluene in laboratory experiments. Encapsulated in 1.5 mm 2% alginate beads containing 1% polyacrylic acid, they also detected the location of a real metallic antipersonnel landmine under field conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the detection of a buried landmine with a luminescent microbial bioreporter.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 251-261 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Microbial Biotechnology |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Research was sponsored by the Army Research Office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-18-2-0002. Research was also partially supported by the Minerva Center for Bio-Hybrid Complex Systems. Research was sponsored by the Army Research Office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-18-2-0002. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute re-prints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. Research was also partially supported by the Minerva Center for Bio-Hybrid Complex Systems.
Funding Information:
Research was sponsored by the Army Research Office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF‐18‐2‐0002. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute re‐prints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. Research was also partially supported by the Minerva Center for Bio‐Hybrid Complex Systems.
Funding Information:
Research was sponsored by the Army Research Office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF‐18‐2‐0002. Research was also partially supported by the Minerva Center for Bio‐Hybrid Complex Systems.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd