A portable fluorescence resonance energy transfer biosensor for rapid detection of silver ions

In this study, we employed CupR protein in the construct of a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based protein biosensor for the detection of silver ions. We fused the CFP and the YPet through a truncated CupR protein (containing a dimerization helix and a metal binding domain) to create a FRET-based biosensor for the detection of silver ions. Various aqueous media (including tap water and pond water) were examined to determine the matrix effects and agarose gel was used to increase the feasibility of this portable biosensors. The resulting biosensor has demonstrated high sensitivity and selectivity to silver ions.