Assessment of arsenite oxidase enzyme properties for developing a sensor based

detection system in water

Md. Sadikur Rahman Shuvo
Lecturer
Department of Microbiology
Noakhali Science & technology University
Sonapur,Noakhali-3814

Abstract
Arsenic is highly toxic element mostly found in ground water. IT causes serious health
hazards due to continuous drinking for years. Recent technologies for detecting arsenic in
ground water has many limitations including costly, necessity of expert personnel, extended
time required for detection etc. Sensor based detection system has advantages over traditional
systems. Quantitative measurement is fast and accurate in this system. As the system is
reusable, cost is minimized in sensor-based system. For developing a sensor based arsenic
detection system, in this project sampling was performed to isolate arsenic oxidizing bacteria
from Chandpur, a highly arsenic contaminated region of Bangladesh. The isolates were
cultured in arsenite containing plates for encouraging the growth of arsenite tolerant bacteria.
Then the bacteria were tested for arsenite oxidation using culture method. Growth curve
along with conversion of arsenite to arsenate was measured. This quantitative conversion will
be essential for developing the device to detect arsenic. Now our goal is to find out the
genetic region where the arsenite oxidize gene is present. After that expression cloning will
be performed for expressing arsenite oxidase enzyme which will be used as the main
component for arsenic detection probe.