To date, many genetically engineered strains containing selected stress-responsive E. coli promoters fused to the Photohabdus luminescens luxCDABE reporter have been developed.  Use of the five-gene lux reporter system allows facile monitoring of gene expression because all components necessary for light production are present in the cell.  The bioluminescence reporter has advantageous properties such as real-time response, excellent sensitivity, and large dynamic range because the product of its pathway, light production, can be easily detected.  Moreover, not only do the responses of an organism to environmental insult supply instantaneous light signals, they also provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of toxicity because these responses also include repair mechanisms specific for the damage occurred.  The responses of this collection were found to be biologically appropriate when stressed by oxidative damage, internal acidification, DNA damage, protein damage, super-stationary phase, and sigma S stress.  The pattern of stress inducible responses has been shown capable of yielding a characteristic stress fingerprint specific to the types of damage sustained by the cell, indicating a great potential for detecting and assessing the presence and severity of toxic compounds in food.  However, the applicability of these bioluminescent cells is greatly hindered due to lack of control over the total number of cells in a suspending culture, limiting the light signals to a qualitative than quantitative tool.  Hence, there is a pressing need for robust and effective procedures that enables rapid incorporation of these or similarly constructed biosensing strains into whole-cell biosensors.  Our work elucidates the development of a whole-cell immobilization system using self-assembled monolayers (SAMS) and how such a system enables quantitative analysis of the signals emitted by immobilized stress-responsive luminous bacteria.