Special Issue "Microbial Sensors and Biosensors"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Martin Hegner
School of Physics, Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
Website: http://www.tcd.ie/Physics/People/Martin.Hegner/index.html
E-Mail:
Interests: optical trapping; optical tweezers; laser tweezers; trapping; scanning force microscopy; single molecule experiments; dynamic force spectroscopy; multifunctional cantilever array sensors; biosensors

This issue is devoted to the field Microbial Biosensors ranging from detecting growth of microorganisms to the tracking of metabolic activity or drug resistance within microorganism based on nano/microtechnology. Contributions on the integration of the microbial biosensors in small form factor e.g. lab-on-chips are of high interest for this special issue. All types of applications using nano/microtechnology for on-line detection will be accepted.

Submissions

Sensors is a highly rated journal with a 1.870 impact factor in 2008. Sensors is indexed and abstracted very quickly by Chemical Abstracts, Analytical Abstracts, Science Citation Index Expanded, Chemistry Citation Index, Scopus and Google Scholar.

All papers should be submitted to sensors@mdpi.org with copy to martin.hegner@tcd.ie. To be published continuously until the deadline and papers will be listed together at the special websites.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a paper. Open Access publication fees are 1050 CHF per paper. English correction fees (250 CHF) will be added in certain cases (1300 CHF per paper for those papers that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.).

Microbial; Microorganism; Biosensor; Microcantilever- , Quarz Crystal Microbalance -, Surface Plasmon Resonance -, Optically - based Biosensors; Viable Growth Detection; Mass Detection; Metabolism Detection; Drug Resistance Detection; Nanocantilevers; Nanomechanical Sensors; Nanomechanics; MEMS; NEMS; Nanoresonators.

Title: Potential for Development of a Microbial Biosensor for Assessing Bioavailable Methionine: A Review
Authors: V.I. Chalova^1,3, C. A. Froelich^1,2, S. C. Ricke^1,3
Affiliations: ¹ Poultry Science Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2472, vchalova@uark.edu (V.I.C.)
² Current address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, Shreveport, LA 71129
³ Current address: Center for Food Safety and Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72704, sricke@uark.edu (S.C.R.)
Abstract: Methionine is an essential amino acid for animals and first limiting amino acid in animal feeds. Methionine deficiency or excess in animal diets lead to sub-optimal animal performance and increased environmental pollution which impose its accurate quantification and proper dosage in animal rations. Animal and digestibility assays are the current, costly methods to quantify methionine bioavailability. In addition, a variety of artifacts can hinder the variability and time efficacy of the assays. Microbiological assays, which are based on the nutrient necessities of microorganisms for this amino acid, appear to be potential alternatives to the already established standards. They are rapid and inexpensive in vitro assays which are characterized with relatively accurate and consistent estimation of digestible methionine in feeds and feed ingredients. The current review discusses the potential to develop an Escherichia coli-based microbial biosensor for methionine bioavailability quantification. Methionine biosynthesis and regulation pathways are reviewed in relation to genetic manipulation required for the generation of a respective methionine auxotroph. A prospective utilization of E. coli methionine biosensor would allow for inexpensive and rapid methionine quantification and ultimately enable timely assessment of nutritional profiles of feedstuffs.
Keywords: Escherichia coli, methionine, bioavailability, biosensors