A low temperature microbial biosensor using immobilised psychrophilic bacteria

A psychrophilic bacteria, Deinococcus radiodurans, was used to construct a biosensor to be used in a flow injection system. The transducer used was an O₂ electrode. The response of this cell-based electrode was studied towards a number of sugars. The temperature dependence of the electrode response correlated well with the behavior of the cells. Thus, the optimum temperature for measurement of glucose (0.55 mM) was about +5 °C. Since the organism used is psychrophilic, a response time at this low temperature is similar to what is achieved with mesophilic organisms at room temperature. This is the first biosensor constructed using a psychrophilic microorganism.