Detection of metal and other toxic compounds - Summary
The continuing increase in public concern on environmental pollution from industrial and agricultural sources has encouraged scientists to explore cost and time-effective alternatives to current chemistry-based methods in detecting pollutants. Many of the up-to-date research in this field have mainly been focusing on heavy metal (mercury, cadmium, zinc, copper etc.), and fewer on organic compounds, where microorganisms are transformed with pollutant-inducible promoters linked to reporter genes that can be easily detected by change in colour or luminescence (Kohler (2000). Reporter gene assays in environmental analysis. Fresenius J Anal Chem. 366:769-779).[add a comment]
This chapter introduces patent documents that contain claims towards detection of metal and toxic compounds by use of transgenic organisms. The following table lists the representative patent document, assignee, detecting substance, regulatory element and reporter gene, and host organism where applicable:[add a comment]
|
Patent document |
Assignee |
Detecting substance |
regulatory element |
reporter gene |
host organism |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
WO 1992/15687 |
VITO |
metal and xenobiotic compounds |
Alcaligenes eutrophus
- derived promoters |
luxCDABE |
not specified |
|
WO 1997/41251 |
VITO |
genotoxic compounds |
SOS regulated promoters |
reporter that emits light |
not specified |
|
EP 649905 |
Toyota Central R&D Lab. |
mutagenic substances |
SOS gene |
(bacterial) luciferase |
not specified |
|
US 2006/8837 |
U. Tennessee |
estrogenic agent |
estrogen response element |
luxAB | Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
|
US 7090992 |
U. Tennessee |
estrogenic agent |
not specified |
lux |
a collection of eukaryotic cells |
|
US 6740521 |
Kaneka Corp, NIAIST |
chemicals or natural toxins which disrupt or disturb homeostasis in organisms |
hsp47 and SP1 |
reporter with SV40pA |
not specified |
|
US 2001/034039 |
Lee & Kim |
toxic substances |
none |
luxAB
(constitutive expression) |
Janthinobacterium lividum |
|
US 5877398 |
University of British Columbia |
toxin |
hsp16
promoter |
lacZ | Caenorhabditis elegans |
|
WO 1999/009202 |
Mangiarotti & Mangiarotti |
toxic substances |
not specified |
not specified |
Dictyostelium sp. |
|
WO 2000/49150 |
University of Singapore |
steroid hormone or a steroid hormone derivative heavy metals |
estrogen- or other steroid hormone-inducible promoter heavy metal-inducible promoter |
(gene coding for a) fluorescent or chemiluminescent protein |
zebrafish |
|
WO 1994/13831 |
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. |
environmental insult |
stress-inducible promoter |
luxCDABE |
not specified (or E. coli for US and CA granted patents) |
|
WO 1995/19446 |
Virta and Karp |
(heavy) metal |
promoter regulatable by a heavy metal |
insect luciferase or a green fluorescent protein (GFP) |
not specified |
|
WO 1990/12887 |
Bio-Orbit Oy |
factor that affects directly or indirectly the DNA, RNA and/or proteins of the cell or the synthesis mechanisms |
regulatable promoter |
not specified |
not specified |
|
WO 2003/102223 |
EAWAG/UFZ |
inorganic and organic pollutants |
regulatory protein with at least two binding sites |
not specified |
not specified |
There are other patent documents containing examples of transgenic bioreporter organisms that detect heavy metals and other toxic compounds, most of which are introduced in chapter 7: Biosensing systems due to the claim language of the patent documents (claims are not limited to metal or toxic compound detection).[add a comment]
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