Biological synthesis of fluorescent nanoparticles by cadmium and tellurite resistant Antarctic bacteria: exploring novel natural nanofactories

Microbial Cell Factories

Research

C. Gallardo¹  Y. D. Straub¹  J. M. Pérez-Donoso¹  D. O. Plaza²  D. Bravo³ 

[1] BioNanotechnology and Microbiology Laboratory, Center for Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology (CBIB), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Andres Bello, República # 239, Santiago, Chile;BioNanotechnology and Microbiology Laboratory, Center for Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology (CBIB), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Andres Bello, República # 239, Santiago, Chile;Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Sergio Livingstone Pohlhammer # 1007, Santiago, Chile;Laboratorio de Microbiología Oral, Facultad de Odontología, Universidad de Chile, Sergio Livingstone Pohlhammer # 943, Santiago, Chile;

关键词: Fluorescent nanoparticles;    Quantum dots;    Green synthesis;    Antarctica;    Bacteria;    Heavy metals;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12934-016-0477-8

 received in 2016-01-27, accepted in 2016-04-27,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFluorescent nanoparticles or quantum dots (QDs) have been intensely studied for basic and applied research due to their unique size-dependent properties. There is an increasing interest in developing ecofriendly methods to synthesize these nanoparticles since they improve biocompatibility and avoid the generation of toxic byproducts. The use of biological systems, particularly prokaryotes, has emerged as a promising alternative. Recent studies indicate that QDs biosynthesis is related to factors such as cellular redox status and antioxidant defenses. Based on this, the mixture of extreme conditions of Antarctica would allow the development of natural QDs producing bacteria.ResultsIn this study we isolated and characterized cadmium and tellurite resistant Antarctic bacteria capable of synthesizing CdS and CdTe QDs when exposed to these oxidizing heavy metals. A time dependent change in fluorescence emission color, moving from green to red, was determined on bacterial cells exposed to metals. Biosynthesis was observed in cells grown at different temperatures and high metal concentrations. Electron microscopy analysis of treated cells revealed nanometric electron-dense elements and structures resembling membrane vesicles mostly associated to periplasmic space. Purified biosynthesized QDs displayed broad absorption and emission spectra characteristic of biogenic Cd nanoparticles.ConclusionsOur work presents a novel and simple biological approach to produce QDs at room temperature by using heavy metal resistant Antarctic bacteria, highlighting the unique properties of these microorganisms as potent natural producers of nano-scale materials and promising candidates for bioremediation purposes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Plaza et al. 2016