Patent ID: 7303894

Claim:
A method for detecting 2-chlorophenol or 2,4-dichlorophenol in a test sample, wherein said method comprises the steps of: (1) culturing a Pseudomonas or Escherichia coli cell comprising (a) a reporter gene under the control of the Po promoter inducible by the DmpR protein of Pseudomonas sp. strain CF600, and (b) a Pseudomonas sp. strain CF600 DmpR gene mutated at the coding region of the sensor domain, wherein the coding region of the sensor domain of the mutated Pseudomonas sp. strain 0F600 DmpR gene comprises SEQ ID NO: 3, and wherein said mutation results in enhanced transcriptional activation response to 2-chlorophenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol relative to the response obtained with wild type Pseudomonas sp. strain CF600 DmpR protein; and, (2) detecting the expression of the reporter gene, wherein expression of the reporter gene is indicative of the presence of 2-chlorophenol or 2,4-dichlorophenol.