posted on 2013-11-05, 00:00authored byJohanna Rajasärkkä, Marko Virta
The first Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast bioreporter
for analysis of a single endocrine disrupting compound, bisphenol
A (BPA), was developed. The bioreporter contains mutated human estrogen
receptor α (hERα), called bisphenol A-targeted receptor
(BPA-R). The BPA-R bioreporter was characterized with mixtures of
estrogenic chemicals and tested with spiked influent wastewater samples.
The detection limit for BPA was 4.2-fold lower (0.107 μM, i.e.,
24 μg L–1), while that of the native hormone
17β-estradiol (E2) (1 μM, i.e., 272 μg L–1) was 166,000-fold higher compared to the wild type hERα bioreporter.
The BPA-R bioreporter responded only to BPA in a chemical cocktail
and spiked concentrated wastewater samples with high concentrations
of other estrogenic chemicals. As a conclusion, wastewater and other
environmental water samples can be concentrated and specifically analyzed
for BPA without risk of the mixture effect caused by other estrogenic
chemicals. The BPA-R bioreporter is a robust and cost-efficient choice
for high-throughput monitoring of BPA and its bioavailability in complex
samples.