Bioreporter bacteria for landmine detection

Technical Report · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/645466· OSTI ID:645466

Burlage, R S ^[1]; Youngblood, T ^[2]; Lamothe, D ^[3]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
2. Frisby Technologies, Aiken, SC (United States)
3. American Technologies, Inc., Huntsville, AL (United States). Ordnance/Explosives Environmental Services Div.

Landmines (and other UXO) gradually leak explosive chemicals into the soil at significant concentrations. Bacteria, which have adapted to scavenge low concentrations of nutrients, can detect these explosive chemicals. Uptake of these chemicals results in the triggering of specific bacterial genes. The authors have created genetically recombinant bioreporter bacteria that detect small concentrations of energetic chemicals. These bacteria are genetically engineered to produce a bioluminescent signal when they contact specific explosives. A gene for a brightly fluorescent compound can be substituted for increased sensitivity. By finding the fluorescent bacteria, you find the landmine. Detection might be accomplished using stand-off illumination of the minefield and GPS technology, which would result in greatly reduced risk to the deminers. Bioreporter technology has been proven at the laboratory scale, and will be tested under field conditions in the near future. They have created a bacterial strain that detects sub-micromolar concentrations of o- and p-nitrotoluene. Related bacterial strains were produced using standard laboratory protocols, and bioreporters of dinitrotoluene and trinitrotoluene were produced, screening for activity with the explosive compounds. Response time is dependent on the growth rate of the bacteria. Although frill signal production may require several hours, the bacteria can be applied over vast areas and scanned quickly, producing an equivalent detection speed that is very fast. This technology may be applicable to other needs, such as locating buried explosives at military and ordnance/explosive manufacturing facilities.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Department of Defense, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-96OR22464
• OSTI ID: 645466
• Report Number(s): ORNL/CP--96972; CONF-980425--; ON: DE98003374
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
BIODEGRADATION
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GENETIC ENGINEERING
NITRO COMPOUNDS
PSEUDOMONAS
REMEDIAL ACTION