Bioassay based luminescent bacteria: Interferences, improvements, and applications

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2014-01, Vol.468-469, p.1-11
• Main Authors: Ma, Xiaoyan Y., Wang, Xiaochang C., Ngo, Huu Hao, Guo, Wenshan, Wu, Maoni N., Wang, Na
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute toxicity; Aliivibrio fischeri; Bacteria - metabolism; Bioassay; Contaminants; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Hazardous Substances - analysis; Hazardous Substances - metabolism; Luminescent bacteria toxicity assay; Luminescent Measurements - methods; Luminescent Measurements - trends; Toxicity Tests - methods; Toxicity Tests - trends
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.08.028

Due to the merits of being time-saving, cost effective and simple operation, the luminescent bacteria toxicity assay (LBTA) has been widely used for environmental pollution monitoring. Based on numerous studies since 2007, this critical review aims to give an overview on the mechanisms, developments and applications of LBTA. Firstly, based on the introduction of the mechanisms of LBTA, this review shows the interferences from the characteristics of testing samples (such as inorganic nutrients, color, turbidity) and summarizes the improvements on pretreatment method, test methods and test systems in recent years. Regarding the factors that affect the toxicity prediction of single chemicals, the correlation between the toxicity index expressed as median effective concentration (EC50) and characters (such as Kow, the alkyl chain length, the anion and the cation) of known chemicals, especially the emerging ionic liquids (ILs), were given an in-depth discussion. The models for predicting the joint effect of mixtures to luminescent bacteria were also presented. For the factors that affect the toxicity of actual waters, the correlation of toxicity of actual samples to luminescent bacteria and their conventional indexes were discussed. Comparing the sensitivity of the LBTA with other bioassays could indicate the feasibility of the LBTA applied on specific samples. The summary on the application of LBTA to environmental samples has been made to find the future research direction. •This paper shows the interferences and improvements of luminescent bacteria test.•This review indicates the future research direction for luminescent bacteria test.•The luminescent bacteria test is moving toward high automation and reproducibility.•Review shows the factors that affect the toxicity of chemicals and actual waters.•A battery of bioassays and chemical analysis are recommended for sample evaluation.