A NOVEL BITTER DETECTION BIOSENSOR BASED ON LIGHT ADDRESSABLE POTENTIOMETRIC SENSOR

This paper presents a novel biosensor for bitter substance detection on the basis of light addressable potentiometric sensor(LAPS).Taste receptor cells(TRCs)were used as sensitive elements,which can respond to different bitter stimuli with extreme high sensitivity and speci-ficity.TRCs were isolated from the taste buds of rats and cultured on the surface of LAPS chip.Due to the unique advantages such as single-cell recording,light addressable capability,and noninvasiveness,LAPS chip was used as secondary transducer to monitor the responses of TRCs by recording extracelluar potential changes.The results indicate LAPS chip can effectively record the responses of TRCs to different bitter substances used in this study in a real-time manner for a long-term.In addition,by performing principal component analysis on the LAPS recording data,different bitter substances tested can be successfully discriminated.It is suggested this TRCs
LAPS hybrid biosensor could be a valuable tool for bitter substance detection.With further improvement and novel design,it has great potentials to be applied in both basic research and practical applications related to bitter taste detection.

Genome-Wide Analysis of Snapdragon WRKY and VQ Gene Families and Their Expression in Response to Drought and Cold Stresses

Snapdragon(Antirrhinum majus)is one of the most widely cultivated grass flowers in the world.WRKY transcription factors,VQ proteins and their interactions play crucial roles in plant response to abiotic stresses.However,little is known about WRKY and VQ gene families in snapdragon.In the present study,WRKY and VQ genes and their interactions were comprehensively analyzed in snapdragon using bioinformatics approaches,and their expression in response to drought and cold stresses was examined using real-time PCR.A total of 67 AmWRKY genes were identified in snapdragon,which were classified into different groups or subgroups based on phylogenetic analysis.Members in the same group or sub-groups exhibited similar exon-intron structure and conserved motifs distribution.Among these WRKY genes,16 and 22 genes were found to differentially express under drought and cold stresses,respectively.A total of 32 AmVQ genes were identified,of which 10 and 18 were found to differentially express under drought and cold stresses,respectively.The WRKY-VQ or WRKY-WRKY interaction relationships were predicted for 11 cold-responsive genes,suggesting that they might exist in the same response pathway to cold stress.These results lay a foundation for further studies on roles of WRKY and VQ genes and their interactions in regulating abiotic responses in snapdragon.