Detection of chrysotile asbestos by using a chrysotile-binding protein

摘要

In the current studies, we found that the DksA protein from Escherichia coli binds strongly to chrysotile, which is the most commonly used form of asbestos. We developed a convenient colorimetric assay for chrysotile using a fusion of DksA and alkaline phosphatase along with 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyi-phosphate and nitro blue tetrazolium as substrates. Also, using a fusion of DksA and green-fluorescent protein, we were able to detect chrysotile by fluorescence microscopy.