Abstract:
1,4-Benzoquinone can act as a mediator of electron transfer in bioelectrochemical cells for measuring microbiological activity in a sample. In combination with ferricyanide it can provide a surprisingly high level of mediator activity with many microorganisms, and a more even response when the sample may contain a mixture of microorganisms.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to bioelectrochemical cells, for use in measuring microbiological activity in a sample. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In bioelectrochemical cells, especially for measuring bacterial activity, ferricyanide has been proposed as a mediator for electron transfer between the bacteria and the electrodes. 1,4-Benzoquinone is also known as a mediator of electron transfer. Different bacteria present different levels of response, and for example Pseudomonas species (e.g. P. aeruginosa) normally have a rather poor response compared with, say, E. coli using ferricyanide as mediator. Large differences in response from different microorganisms makes it difficult to relate the signal to the amount of microbiological activity, unless one is expecting a particular microorganism to predominate. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It has now been found that a ferricyanide and a 1,4-benzoquinone can exhibit an unexpectedly high level of mediator activity compared with ferricyanide alone, or even compared with 1,4-benzoquinone alone, whereas in some cases the response is not significantly higher, and can even be lower, than using the mediators separately. The effect is such that a more even response can normally be expected from general or non-specific microbiological activity using the cocktail of mediators; while a particularly enhanced response can be expected when testing for many individual microorganisms using the mediator cocktail. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The invention will be further illustrated by reference to the following examples. 
     EXAMPLE 1 
     Use of 1,4-benzoquinone and ferricyanide cocktail in a two electrode bioelectrochemical cell (BEC) 
     The BEC was set up at pH 7.0 in a sodium phosphate buffer. Benzoquinone was prepared at 25 mM concentration and ferricyanide at 250 mM concentration. Initially the E. coli (150 μl) BEC response using 500 μl ferricyanide was compared with that of 500 μl ferricyanide+500 μl benzoquinone added together as a cocktail. The results are shown in Table 1. 
     
                       TABLE 1______________________________________Use of 1,4-benzoquinone + ferricyanide cocktailas an alternative mediator______________________________________150 μl E. coli 1.7 × 10.sup.9 org/ml                      BEC                      responseMediator                   μA/min______________________________________ferricyanide (500 μl)   0.15ferricyanide (500 μl) + 1.1benzoquinone (500 μl)______________________________________P. aeruginosa 1.7 × 10.sup.10 org/ml                       BECCell volume                 responsein BEC (μl)       Mediator        μA/min______________________________________1000        ferricyanide (500 μl)                       0.23500         ferricyanide (500 μl)                       0.131000        ferricyanide (500 μl) +                       off scale in       benzoquinone (500 μl)                       10 sec.500         ferricyanide (500 μl) +                        20.33       benzoquinone (500 μl)______________________________________ 
    
     From the foregoing it will be seen that the cocktail gave about a 7.5-fold enhancement over the ferricyanide alone for E. coli. This experiment was repeated using P. aeruginosa. In this case the cocktail gave about a 750-fold enhancement over the ferricyanide alone. 
     EXAMPLE 2 
     Further investigation of the cocktail of Example 1 was made. The response of the benzoquinone cocktail was compared with that of the two individual components. The results are shown in Table 2. 
     
                       TABLE 2______________________________________Comparison of the BEC response of the benzoquinone cocktailwith that of the two individual components150 μl P. aeruginosa 1.2 × 10.sup.10 org/mlMediator         BEC response μA/min______________________________________benzoquinone (500 μl)             0.64benzoquinone (1000 μl)            1.1benzoquinone (500 μl) +ferricyanide (500 μl)            2.9ferricyanide (500 μl)             0.06______________________________________ 
    
     These results showed that the rate of change of current with time obtained with the mediator cocktail was more than the sum of the slopes of the individual components. In this case the cocktail gave a 48-fold enhancement over ferricyanide alone. 
     EXAMPLE 3 
     It was noted that the BEC response using 1 ml of benzoquinone was greater than that using 0.5 ml; therefore the concentration of benzoquinone relative to ferricyanide was increased in an attempt to further enhance the BEC response. The results are shown in Table 3. 
     
                       TABLE 3______________________________________Effect of varying benzoquinone concentrationin the cocktail on the BEC response150 μl P. aeruginosa 1.2 × 10.sup.10 org/mlMediator         BEC response μA/min______________________________________benzoquinone (1000 μl)            0.88benzoquinone (1000 μl) +ferricyanide (500 μl)            1.22benzoquinone (500 μl) +ferricyanide (500 μl)            1.37ferricyanide (500 μl)            0.09______________________________________ 
    
     It will be seen that increasing the relative amount of benzoquinone in the mediator cocktail did not further enhance the BEC response. 1 ml Benzoquinone+500 μl ferricyanide produced a 13.6-fold enhancement of the response whereas 500 μl benzoquinone+500 μl ferricyanide resulted in a 15.2-fold enhancement. 
     EXAMPLE 4 
     The effect of the mediator cocktail with a variety of bacteria 
     The bacteria to be examined were grown up overnight, and then tested in a BEC using the following composition: 
     
         ______________________________________       150 μl Glucose (25 mM)       500 μl Bacterial suspensionMediator:(i)         250 μl Ferricyanide (250 mM), or(ii)        250 μl Benzoquinone (25 mM), or(iii)       250 μl Ferricyanide (250 mM) +       250 μl Benzoquinone (25 mM).______________________________________ 
    
     Sodium phosphate buffer (50 mM, pH 7.0) containing KCl (to a final concentration of 100 mM in the BEC) to a final BEC volume of 10 ml. 
     The work was carried out at 30° C. using a platinum working electrode and a silver/silver chloride reference electrode. 
     The results were obtained as mean values of a minimum of four runs. The standard BEC solution was prepared and the response was observed with each of the three mediator combinations given above. The results are shown in Table 4. 
     
                       TABLE 4______________________________________Measured Rates           FERRI-    BENZO-    COCK-           CYANIDE   QUINONE   TAIL           (%)       (%)       (%)ORGANISM        (a)       (a)       (b)______________________________________Acinetobacter   8.3       44.4      189.8Agrobacterium tumefaciens           208.5     36.9      32.4Alcaligenes faecalis           80.4      47.5      78.1Bacillus licheniformis           176.7     65.1      41.3Bacillus megaterium           205.7     67.9      36.6Escherichia coli           6.2       41.1      211.2Micrococcus lysodeikticus           2.4       85.6      113.6Pseudomonas aeruginosa           0.6       61.4      161.4Pseudomonas fluorescens           4.5       122.6     78.7Staphylococcus aureus           18.3      70.6      112.5Streptococcus faecalis           4.7       79.8      118.2______________________________________ (a):rate as % of cocktail response (b):cocktail rate as % of response of both mediators combined 
    
     Table 4 was compiled from measured data, examples of which are shown in Table 5. 
     
                       TABLE 5______________________________________Organism at      BEC RESPONSE (μA/min)1 × 10.sup.9 /ml            Cocktail  Ferricyanide______________________________________Escherichia coli 8.57      0.53Bacillus licheniformis            0.75      1.33Pseudomonas aeruginosa            1.39       0.007Total variation in            11-fold   200-foldrelative responses______________________________________ 
    
     The Table 5 data include E. coli, which is the best responder with the cocktail (out of those tested), P. aeruginosa, which is the poorest responder with ferricyanide alone, and B. licheniformis, a strain whose response is decreased with the cocktail relative to ferricyanide alone. It will be seen that the cocktail has greatly evened out the response of a mixed culture at a given concentration. 
     Tables 6 and 7 illustrate the effect of varying the relative concentrations of the two mediator components. 
     
                       TABLE 6______________________________________BENZOQUINONECONCENTRATION (μM)              BEC RESPONSE (μA/min)______________________________________250                3.95100                1.0525                 0.742.5                0.58Ferricyanide concentration:              2.5 mMSample:            5 × 10.sup.6 org/ml E. coli______________________________________ 
    
     
                       TABLE 7______________________________________COCKTAIL COMPOSITIONFERRICYANIDE BENZOQUINONE  BEC RESPONSE(mM)         (mM)          (μA/min)______________________________________12.5         1.25          10.7012.5         0.25          10.62 6.25         0.625        11.702.5           1.875        10.671.0          1.25           9.98Sample: P. aeruginosa        5 × 10.sup.8 org/ml______________________________________ 
    
     In Table 6, with E. coli, the ferricyanide:benzoquinone ratio varies from 1000:1 to 10:1 with only a seven-fold change in signal. In Table 7, with P. aeruginosa, that ratio varies from 50:1 to 0.8:1 with virtually no change in signal. The ratios therefore do not appear to be critical. Likewise the overall concentrations of the mediators does not seem to be critical, and can be lower than those exemplified, especially with the more sensitive microorganisms. We have further demonstrated above, the use of the mediator cocktail with examples of gram positive and gram negative bacteria, motile and non-motile organisms, rods and cocci.