Department of Chemistry, University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy.
CNR-IPCF, SS Bari, Via Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Oct 30;16(43):58598-58608. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c12070. Epub 2024 Oct 20.
Shedding light on the interaction between inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and living microorganisms is at the basis of the development of biohybrid technologies with improved performance. Au NPs have been shown to be able to improve the extracellular electron transfer (EET) in intact bacterial cells interfaced with an electrode; however, detailed information on the role of NP-surface properties in their interaction with bacterial membranes is still lacking. Herein, we unveil how the surface functionalization of Au NPs influences their interaction with photosynthetic bacteria, focusing on cell morphology, growth kinetics, NPs localization, and electrocatalytic performance. We show that functionalization of Au NPs with cysteine in the zwitterionic form results in a uniform NPs distribution in purple bacteria, specifically locating the NPs within the outer-membrane/periplasmic space of bacterial cells. These biohybrid cells, when coupled with an electrode, exhibit enhanced EET and increased (photo)current generation, paving the way for the future development of rationally designed biohybrid electrochemical systems.
阐明无机纳米粒子(NPs)与活微生物之间的相互作用是开发具有改进性能的生物杂交技术的基础。已经证明 Au NPs 能够提高与电极接口的完整细菌细胞中的细胞外电子转移(EET);然而,关于 NP 表面特性在其与细菌膜相互作用中的作用的详细信息仍然缺乏。本文揭示了 Au NPs 的表面功能化如何影响它们与光合细菌的相互作用,重点关注细胞形态、生长动力学、NPs 定位和电催化性能。我们表明,带内电荷的半胱氨酸官能化 Au NPs 会导致紫色细菌中 NPs 的均匀分布,特别是将 NPs 定位在细菌细胞的外膜/周质空间内。当这些生物杂交细胞与电极耦合时,会表现出增强的 EET 和增加的(光)电流产生,为未来合理设计的生物杂交电化学系统的发展铺平了道路。