Maryam Ganjavi^1,3* and Yangming Martin Lo^2,3

¹Nutritional Sciences Program, Department of Public and Allied Health, School of Community Health and Policy, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA
²Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
³Department of Nutrition and Food Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

*Corresponding Author: Maryam Ganjavi, Nutritional Sciences Program, Department of Public and Allied Health, School of Community Health and Policy, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Received: March 17, 2025; Published: March 26, 2025

Abstract

The presence of acrylamide in carbohydrate-rich foods processed at high temperatures was first highlighted by the Swedish National Food Authority in April 2002, sparking extensive research into its occurrence, chemistry, toxicology, and potential health risks. This study investigates the potential of whole-cell bioluminescence as a sensitive and reliable alternative to conventional analytical methods for detecting acrylamide and assessing cellular stress responses. We employed two genetically engineered bioluminescent E. coli strains, recA-lux fusion and grpE-lux fusion, which carry DNA damage and protein damage stress-responsive promoters fused to the Photorhabdus luminesces luxCDABE reporter, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that both strains emitted detectable bioluminescence in response to acrylamide, with significant increases in ΔRLU values and RLU ratios observed between 10 and 1000 μg/L acrylamide. Notably, at higher concentrations (10,000 μg/L), luminescence diminished (ΔRLU negative, RLU ratio < 1), indicating cell dampening. The study also showed that E. coli cultures up to 14 days old responded similarly to fresh overnight cultures, highlighting the stability and reliability of the biosensor over time. These results suggest that bioluminescence-based stress fingerprinting is a powerful method for detecting acrylamide across a wide concentration range. The sustained responsiveness of aged sensing cells underscores the potential for long-term monitoring applications, positioning this biosensing approach as a robust tool for food safety and toxicology studies.

Keywords: Acrylamide; Luminous Bacteria; Biosensor; E. coli; Cell Age; Dose Response

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Citation

Citation: Maryam Ganjavi and Yangming Martin Lo. “Optimizing E. coli Responsiveness to Acrylamide for Future Food Detection Applications".Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 9.4 (2025): 76-81.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Maryam Ganjavi and Yangming Martin Lo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.