Artificial microbial co-cultures were formed to develop the receptor element of a biosensor for assessment
of biological oxygen demand (BOD). The co-cultures possessed broad substrate specificities and
enabled assays of water and fermentation products within a broad BOD range (2.4–80 mg/dm3) with
a high correlation to the standard method (R = 0.9988). The use of the co-cultures of the yeasts Pichia
angusta, Arxula adeninivorans and Debaryomyces hansenii immobilized in N-vinylpyrrolidone-modified
poly(vinyl alcohol) enabled developing a BOD biosensor possessing the characteristics not inferior to
those in the known biosensors. The results are indicative of a potential of using these co-cultures as the
receptor element base in prototype models of instruments for broad application.
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