Enzyme selection
CynHs are known for their excellent specific activities at alkaline pH, which is a key factor for the success of a cyanide assay (avoidance of HCN vapor losses at lower pH). For example, a CynH from Exidia glandulosa exhibited a specific activity of ≈ 780 U/mg for 25 mM KCN at pH 9.0 and 30°C [25]. The enzyme still retained some activity at pH 10.5. Thus, CynHs surpass CynDs in terms of specific activities and pH profiles. Wild-type CynDs are suitable for use at pH 8 but not pH 9 or higher [28]. Although some mutants of CynDs were active at a pH of 9.0, they were much less active at pH 9.5 and inactive at pH 10.0 [28]. In addition, their specific activities appear to be much lower compared to CynH: an activity of ≈ 22 U/mg was reached in the best CynD mutant at pH 9.0, although it must be noted that the conditions of the CynD assay were different (4 mM KCN, room temperature).
Using a CynH for the first step of the proposed cascade required to use AmiF to convert the product of CynH, formamide, to formic acid. One of the previously characterized AmiF enzymes, originating from B. cereus [26], was recently used by us for a two-step degradation of fCN [24]. The maximum activity of 2,800 ± 500 U/mg was reached at pH 6.0 and 50°C [26]. Recently, we investigated the activity of the enzyme at pH 8.0−10.0 and 30°C. The activity at pH 8.0 was 1,440 ± 200 U/mg and ≈ 55% and ≈ 40% of this activity was retained at pH 9.0 and 9.5, respectively [24].
The last enzyme in the enzymatic cascade was FDH, which is available commercially. The employed enzyme originated from C. boidinii and its optima were pH 7.6 and 37°C according to manufacturer [28].
Assay design
Based on the pH preferences of the used enzymes, we divided the cascade (Fig. 1) into two parts. AmiF is principally compatible with both CynH and FDH. We decided to combine it with FDH due to their similar pH optima. In addition, fCN was found to decrease the activity of AmiF [24]. This was another reason for using AmiF in the second step, which is presumably void of significant levels of fCN. Therefore, the assay was designed as follows: In the first step, CynH was hydrolyzed to formamide by the CynH at pH 9.5. This step was performed separately, while the rest of the cascade is performed as a “one-pot” reaction. This reaction involves formamide hydrolysis by AmiF and dehydrogenation of the product, formic acid, by FDH, followed by the colorimetric reaction of the formed NADH. A high pH is not necessary in this “one-pot” reaction where the substrate is formamide. Thus, pH in this reaction mixture of around 8.2 was appropriate for all three steps including the final reduction of WST-8 to formazan.
Determination of formamide concentration
First, we investigated the performance of the AmiF − FDH cascade using standard solutions of formamide (0.005-0.1 mM). The absorbance at 460 nm reached its maximum after 20 to 30 min (Fig. 2a) and the response was almost linear for 0.005 mM to 0.05 mM formamide (Fig. 2b).
The calibration for formamide was constructed by plotting the maximum absorbance achieved for each concentration against the concentration of formamide (Fig. 2b). The LOD and LOQ were calculated to be 7.0 µM (0.31 mg/mL) and 21.4 µM (0.96 mg/mL), respectively. Thus, the AmiF – FDH cascade with the colorimetric detection of NADH can be used for the quantification of formamide as, e.g., a product of cyanide biodegradation. Having confirmed that this cascade is feasible, we combined it with the fCN hydration by CyH to develop the targeted fCN assay (see below).
Determination of cyanide concentration
To develop the cyanide assay, we replaced formamide standards in the above-mentioned cascade with samples from the hydration of KCN by CynH. Other conditions were the same as in the above assay. The absorbance at 460 nm increased for 40−50 min (Fig. 3a) and the reaction rate was thus slightly lower than in the reaction of formamide standard, probably because of pH change (pH 8.2 in the cyanide assay vs. pH 7.6 in the formamide assay). The response was almost linear for KCN concentrations between approximately 0.01 mM and 0.077 mM (Fig. 3b).
The LOD and LOQ (Table 1) for fCN were calculated to be 9.1 µM (0.24 mg/L) and 27.6 µM (0.72 mg/L), respectively. The LOD is near the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit for cyanide in drinking water, i.e. 0.2 mg/L [29].
Table 1
Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for the determination of formamide (Fig. 2b) and free cyanide supplemented as KCN (Fig. 3b).
Compound | STEYX function | SLOPE function | LOD (µM) | LOQ (µM) |
Formamide | 0.058 | 27.16 | 7.0 | 21.4 |
KCN | 0.026 | 9.43 | 9.1 | 27.6 |
When comparing the proposed assays with other cyanide assays, the results should be seen in a broader context, taking into account the sensitivity but also the possible use of harmful chemicals or harsh reaction conditions, and intereferences. In comparison with the picric acid method, a routine fCN assay detecting ≥ 1 mg fCN/L, the enzymatic assay is over four times more sensitive.
In addition, the hazardous chemical and harsh conditions are the disadvantages of the picric acid method. In contrast, the Spectroquant kit allows to determine very low levels of cyanide such as 0.01 mg/L in a 1 cm cuvette. However, the kit is not designed for microplate readers, and thus requires large amounts of reagents.
Another disadvantage of the kit is its sensitivity to certain interfering ions (e.g., Br−, NO2−,
SCN−, Ag+, Cu2+, Hg2+, Ni2+) [8]. The enzymatic method is selective by principle, although formic acid is naturally an interfering compound. However, this disadvantage can be surpassed by performing a control reaction without formamidase. Certain compounds present in the assayed samples could inhibit the used enzymes. These effects have to be investigated for various types of samples. While studying the degradation of fCN by CynHs, we observed that wastewater components such as sulfides or thiocyanates did not significantly inhibit the enzyme [25], which is encouraging. Sulfides and sulfites (both from 1 mg/L) strongly interfere with the picric acid method, and thiocyanates in a concentration of over 0.05 mg/L affect the results obtained with the above kit, along with other ions [8]. Sulfides and thiocyanates are usual components of some cyanide-containing wastewaters, especially coke plant wastewater, and occur in them in up to g/L concentrations [25].