Correcting for the inner filter effect in measurements of fluorescent proteins in high-cell-density cultures

Fluorescent proteins (FPs), such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its variants, are well-developed visible markers for analyzing bioprocesses. Accurate measurement of fluorescence emitted from FPs in whole cells is complicated by the inner filter effect (IFE), which is caused by intracellular light absorption and scattering by cell particles. The IFE causes nonlinearity between fluorescence intensity and fluorophore concentrations in FP-harboring cells and can significantly influence the accuracy of FP-based analysis, especially at high cell densities. A mathematical model based on detection of fluorescence intensity using a fluorescence spectrophotometer was developed to provide a simple correction for the IFE in fluorescence intensity detection in high-density cultures. The parameters of this model were determined in three different FP-harboring bacterial strains to give the “real fluorescence” intensity without the IFE. Using these parameters, accurate analysis of FP-labeled Escherichia coli at high cell density in pure culture and in mixed cultures with fluorescent and nonfluorescent strains was easily and successfully achieved.