Hemolysis as a rapid screening technique for assessing the toxicity of native surfactin and a genetically engineered derivative

Abstract

If biosurfactants are to achieve their promise in environmental oil‐spill remediation, their toxicity to marine life must be assessed. A killifish larvae assay is commonly used as a measure of toxicity but is difficult and nonlinear in response. Red blood cell (RBC) hemolysis has also been the basis for assays of some surfactant levels. Here we present a modified sheep RBC suspension assay and compare its response to that of the fish assay for surfactin and its genetically modified variant fatty‐acyl‐glutamate (FA‐Glu). This is the first report of hemolytic activity as a property of FA‐Glu. The method's potential for screening for toxicity against marine organisms is demonstrated. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 505–510, 2017