Construction of umu‐fhuA operon fusions to detect genotoxic potential by an antibody—cell surface reaction

Abstract

For the environmental monitoring of genotoxic effects of chemicals, a new test system was developed using immunochemical detection of a cell surface reporter protein of Escherichia coli. A umu-fhuA operon fusion was constructed on plasmid pST12, which is inducible via the SOS system by the mutagenic agent methyl-methane-sulfonate (MMS). The expression of the outer membrane protein FhuA as a reporter was detectable on the cell surface with a monoclonal anti-FhuA antibody. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay tests and immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that the operon fusion of PST12 led to specific and strong induction of the reporter protein FhuA after genotoxic treatment with MMS. © 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc..