A green photocatalytic-biosensor for colorimetric detection of pesticide (carbaryl) based on inhibition of acetylcholinesterase

Carbaryl is a widely-used carbamate pesticide and the detection of its residues in environmental, food and clinical samples is of great importance. In this sturdy, we developed a green photocatalytic-biosensor based on double strand DNA-SYBR green I complex for sensitively colorimetric detection of carbaryl. This green photocatalytic-biosensor can oxidize 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) into blue ox-TMB. Meanwhile thiocholine is catalytically produced by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to directly reduce blue ox-TMB into colorless TMB. But the activity of AChE will be suppressed by carbaryl, thus generating less thiocholine and resulting in more ox-TMB for colorimetric analysis. After the careful optimization of sensing conditions (2 μM for DNA concentration, 50 × concentration for SYBR Green I, 10 min for illumination time), the lowest detectable concentration for carbaryl is 0.008 ng/mL with a linear response in the range of 0.01-0.25 ng/mL. In addition, this photocatalytic-biosensor has good selectivity over non-target chemicals (acetamiprid, atrazine, carbendazim, melamine, bisphenol A, estradiol). It also allows detection of pesticides in real samples verified by a standard HPLC method.