A Panel of Stress-Responsive Luminous Bacteria for Monitoring Wastewater Toxicity

In several chapters in this book (Chapters 7 , 8 , 12 , 13 , 17 –22), as well as m other instances (1 –10 ), bacterial constructs were presented that respond by light emission to different environmental stresses. Such strains can serve as very useful tools for the study of bacterial responses to stress, but also as potentially efficient means for environmental monitoring. In the environmental category, one may envisage two general types of luminous constructs: those that respond to the presence of specific inducers, such as heavy metals (4 –7 ) or certain organics (8 –10 ), and those in which luminescence is induced by broader classes of toxicants. In the latter group are included strains carrying fusions of a luminescent reporter to a promoter controlled by a global regulatory circuit (1 –3 ).