Imposed Environmental Stresses Facilitate Cell-Free Nanoparticle Formation by Deinococcus radiodurans
Abstract
The biological synthesis of metal nanoparticles has been examined in a wide range of organisms, due to increased interest in green synthesis and environmental remediation applications involving heavy metal ion contamination.Deinococcus radioduransis particularly attractive for environmental remediation involving metal reduction, due to its high levels of resistance to radiation and other environmental stresses. However, few studies have thoroughly examined the relationships between environmental stresses and the resulting effects on nanoparticle biosynthesis. In this work, we demonstrate cell-free nanoparticle production and study the effects of metal stressor concentrations and identity, temperature, pH, and oxygenation on the production of extracellular silver nanoparticles byD. radioduransR1. We also report the synthesis of bimetallic silver and gold nanoparticles following the addition of a metal stressor (silver or gold), highlighting how production of these particles is enabled through the application of environmental stresses. Additionally, we found that both the morphology and size of monometallic and bimetallic nanoparticles were dependent on the environmental stresses imposed on the cells. The nanoparticles produced byD. radioduransexhibited antimicrobial activity comparable to that of pure silver nanoparticles and displayed catalytic activity comparable to that of pure gold nanoparticles. Overall, we demonstrate that biosynthesized nanoparticle properties can be partially controlled through the tuning of applied environmental stresses, and we provide insight into how their application may affect nanoparticle production inD. radioduransduring bioremediation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 15, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1128/aem.00798-17
Entities
People
- Angela Chen
- Benjamin K Keitz
- Lydia M Contreras
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- National Science Foundation
- Robert A. Welch Foundation
- University of Texas at Austin