The Claim

The E. coli B834 (DE3) methionine auxotroph strain detects and quantitatively estimates vitamin B12 concentrations as low as 50 picomolar in biological samples, enabling high-throughput screening of vitamin B12 production across bacterial strains without chromatographic equipment.

Source: A simple, fast and inexpensive approach using E. coli to detect and estimate vitamin B12 content in microbial extracts

What the research says

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How it works
1 study reviewed
In plain English

A genetically modified strain of E. coli bacteria can measure vitamin B12 levels as low as 50 picomolar in biological samples, allowing rapid screening of vitamin B12 production in other bacteria without using costly chromatography machines.

See the scientific wording

The E. coli B834 (DE3) methionine auxotroph strain can detect and quantitatively estimate vitamin B12 concentrations as low as 50 picomolar in biological samples, enabling high-throughput screening of vitamin B12 production across bacterial strains without requiring expensive chromatographic equipment.

Why this might work

A special strain of E. coli bacteria cannot make its own methionine unless it gets vitamin B12. When vitamin B12 is present, the bacteria use it to turn a precursor into methionine, which lets them grow and multiply. The more vitamin B12 there is, the more the bacteria grow, and this growth can be measured as cloudiness in the liquid they grow in. This cloudiness tells you exactly how much vitamin B12 was in the sample.

Verified mechanismbased on 1 study

What the research says

1 study
  1. Study: A simple, fast and inexpensive approach using E. coli to detect and estimate vitamin B12 content in microbial extracts

    Scientists used a special type of E. coli bacteria that needs vitamin B12 to grow, and watched how well it grew when exposed to tiny amounts of B12 in samples — this lets them measure B12 without expensive machines.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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