Engineering a bioluminescent bioreporter from an environmentally sourced mercury-resistant Enterobacter cloacae strain for the detection of bioavailable mercury.

This study provides new insight into the recruitment of mercury-tolerant bacterial hosts derived from environmental samples over the conventional lab-based E. coli host for the construction of mercury bioreporters. With improved response time and selectivity, the environmentally sourced bacteria can serve as an alternative host choice to improve biosensing technology in the near future.