An assessment of a biosensor system for the quantification of microcystins in freshwater cyanobacterial blooms

Justin D Chaffin; Katelyn B Barker; Sarah R Bickman; John F Bratton; Thomas B Bridgeman; Mudit Bhatia; Seth D Buchholz; George S Bullerjahn; Thomas H Johengen; Dae-Wook Kang; Gregory G Lewis; Michael J Lochhead; Brooks M Macdonald; Cassandra L Petrou; Michelle Platz; Heidi Purcell; Jack Roser; Youngwoo Seo; Mashuk Siddiquee; Brenda Snyder; Autumn T Taylor; Edward M Verhamme; Judy A Westrick

doi:10.1016/j.ab.2023.115429

An assessment of a biosensor system for the quantification of microcystins in freshwater cyanobacterial blooms

Anal Biochem. 2024 Apr:687:115429. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2023.115429. Epub 2023 Dec 17.

Authors

Justin D Chaffin¹, Katelyn B Barker², Sarah R Bickman³, John F Bratton⁴, Thomas B Bridgeman⁵, Mudit Bhatia⁶, Seth D Buchholz², George S Bullerjahn², Thomas H Johengen⁷, Dae-Wook Kang⁶, Gregory G Lewis³, Michael J Lochhead³, Brooks M Macdonald³, Cassandra L Petrou³, Michelle Platz⁴, Heidi Purcell⁷, Jack Roser³, Youngwoo Seo⁸, Mashuk Siddiquee⁶, Brenda Snyder⁵, Autumn T Taylor⁹, Edward M Verhamme⁴, Judy A Westrick¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ F.T. Stone Laboratory and Ohio Sea Grant, The Ohio State University, Put in Bay, Ohio 43456, USA; Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, USA. Electronic address: chaffin.46@osu.edu.
² Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, USA.
³ LightDeck Diagnostics, Inc., 5603 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder, Colorado 80303, USA.
⁴ LimnoTech, Inc. 501 Avis Dr., Ann Arbor Michigan 48108, USA.
⁵ Lake Erie Center, The University of Toledo, Oregon, Ohio 43616, USA.
⁶ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Toledo, 3006 Nitschke Hall, Toledo, Ohio 43606, USA.
⁷ Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
⁸ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Toledo, 3006 Nitschke Hall, Toledo, Ohio 43606, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Toledo, 3048 Nitschke Hall, Toledo, Ohio 43606, USA.
⁹ F.T. Stone Laboratory and Ohio Sea Grant, The Ohio State University, Put in Bay, Ohio 43456, USA.
¹⁰ Lumigen Instrument Center, Wayne State University, 5101Cass Ave., Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA.

PMID: 38113981
DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2023.115429

Abstract

Microcystin-producing cyanobacterial blooms are a global issue threatening drinking water supplies and recreation on lakes and beaches. Direct measurement of microcystins is the only way to ensure waters have concentrations below guideline concentrations; however, analyzing water for microcystins takes several hours to days to obtain data. We tested LightDeck Diagnostics' bead beater cell lysis and two versions of the quantification system designed to give microcystin concentrations within 20 min and compared it to the standard freeze-thaw cycle lysis method and ELISA quantification. The bead beater lyser was only 30 % effective at extracting microcystins compared to freeze-thaw. When considering freeze-thaw samples analyzed in 2021, there was good agreement between ELISA and LightDeck version 2 (n = 152; R² = 0.868), but the LightDeck slightly underestimated microcystins (slope of 0.862). However, we found poor relationships between LightDeck version 2 and ELISA in 2022 (n = 49, slopes 0.60 to 1.6; R² < 0.6) and LightDeck version 1 (slope = 1.77 but also a high number of less than quantifiable concentrations). After the quantification issues are resolved, combining the LightDeck system with an already-proven rapid lysis method (such as microwaving) will allow beach managers and water treatment operators to make quicker, well-informed decisions.

Keywords: Cyanotoxins; ELISA; Harmful algal bloom; Lake Erie; Microcystis; Planktothrix.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Biosensing Techniques*
Cyanobacteria*
Harmful Algal Bloom
Lakes / analysis
Microcystins / analysis
Microcystins / metabolism

Substances

microcystin
Microcystins