Copper pollution poses significant risks to environment and human health, necessitating efficient remediation strategies. In this study, we engineered a strain capable of simultaneous copper adsorption, real-time detection, and magnetic recovery. Two heavy metal binding peptides were displayed on the cell surface via the OmpA anchor, enhancing biosorption capacity up to 329.12 μmol/g DCW. A synthetic genetic circuit was designed for copper sensing, incorporating a T7 RNA polymerase amplification cascade and degradation tags to enable dynamic monitoring of copper concentrations as low as 10-9 M. For resource-efficient recovery, SpyTag was displayed on Curli nanofibers, allowing specific binding to SpyCatcher-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and achieving over 88 % recovery under optimized conditions. The engineered strain performed effectively in nutrient-limited and real environmental water samples, removing >90 % of copper from wastewater. Furthermore, treated water showed significantly reduced copper accumulation and oxidative stress in fish models. This integrated system provides a novel strategy for heavy metal remediation through synthetic biology.
Keywords: Copper bioremediation; Dynamic metal monitoring; Magnetic nanoparticle recovery; Microbial surface display; Whole-cell biosensor.
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