Cited by 28Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicologybioluminescence and chemiluminescence researchWater Quality Monitoring Technologies

Live-Cell Systems in Real-Time Biomonitoring of Water Pollution: Practical Considerations and Future Perspectives

Open access
Wlodkowic, Donald, Karpiński, Tomasz M.·2021·Sensors

Abstract

Continuous monitoring and early warning of potential water contamination with toxic chemicals is of paramount importance for human health and sustainable food production. During the last few decades there have been noteworthy advances in technologies for the automated sensing of physicochemical parameters of water. These do not translate well into online monitoring of chemical pollutants since most of them are either incapable of real-time detection or unable to detect impacts on biological organisms. As a result, biological early warning systems have been proposed to supplement conventional water quality test strategies. Such systems can continuously evaluate physiological parameters of suitable aquatic species and alert the user to the presence of toxicants. In this regard, single cellular organisms, such as bacteria, cyanobacteria, micro-algae and vertebrate cell lines, offer promising avenues for development of water biosensors. Historically, only a handful of systems utilising single-cell organisms have been deployed as established online water biomonitoring tools. Recent advances in recombinant microorganisms, cell immobilisation techniques, live-cell microarrays and microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip technologies open new avenues to develop miniaturised systems capable of detecting a broad range of water contaminants. In experimental settings, they have been shown as sensitive and rapid biosensors with capabilities to detect traces of contaminants. In this work, we critically review the recent advances and practical prospects of biological early warning systems based on live-cell biosensors. We demonstrate historical deployment successes, technological innovations, as well as current challenges for the broader deployment of live-cell biosensors in the monitoring of water quality.

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  • Flow cytometry can be used as a rapid and reliable off-line method for monitoring lipid content.

    “Flow cytometry can be used as a rapid and reliable off-line method for monitoring lipid content [233].”

    From Multi-Sensing Monitoring of the Microalgae Biomass Cultivation Systems for Biofuels and Added Value Products Synthesis—Challenges and Opportunities (2025) · cites this paper as [233]

    Section 3 describes flow cytometry as a gold standard for cell analysis and reports rapid algal cytotoxicity assays. It does not establish that flow cytometry is a reliable off-line method for monitoring lipid content; its monitoring examples concern bacterial viability, cell counts and water quality. Section 6.4 likewise discusses chlorophyll fluorescence and cell-health markers, not lipids. No page numbers were provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.79)

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2 of the 153 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Gerhardt, 2020, Online Biomonitoring for integrated smart real-time water management, Water Solut., 3, 20
  2. Matejczyk, 2010, The potential of application of microbial biosensors, Postep. Mikrobiol., 49, 297

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Authors
Wlodkowic, D., & Karpiński, T. M.
Affiliations
  • The Neurotox Laboratory, School of Science, RMIT University, Plenty Road, P.O. Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia
  • Poznan University of Medical Sciences (PL)
Venue
Sensors
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-10-23
Volume
21
Issue
21
Pages
7028
ISSN
1424-8220 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3208604774
Cited by
28
References
153
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4
FWCI
0.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Sensors (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RMIT Research Repository (RMIT University Library) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › bioluminescence and chemiluminescence research
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Quality Monitoring Technologies
Keywords
water pollution monitoring, biological early warning systems, water quality, chemical contaminants, cyanobacteria, microalgae, bacteria, cell immobilization, lab-on-a-chip, recombinant microorganisms, real-time detection, aquatic organisms
MeSH terms
Biological Monitoring, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Pollutants, Humans, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Water Pollution, Biosensing Techniques, Water Quality

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