Biosensing efficacy of living and thermally-killed Pseudomonas putida P8

The sensing efficacy of Pseudomonas putida P8, thermally-killed by exposing its vacuum-dried cells to 280 °C for 2 min, was comparable to that of their corresponding living cells in terms of their sensitivity to dopamine, biogenic amines and other associated organic compounds. The thermally-killed cell biosensor showed better response reproducibility and stability, long service life span with simpler maintenance and better tolerance to pH variation. It required, however, a much longer pre-conditioning time to ensure stability and reproducibility than the living cell biosensor. The study validates the commercial potential of thermally-killed microbial cells for bulk production of microbial biosensors commercially.