Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 115, Issue 23, Pages 5944-5949Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1804543115
Keywords
biosynthesis; nanomaterials; Escherichia coli; single element; multi-element
Categories
Funding
- Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes on Systems Metabolic Engineering for Biorefineries from the Ministry of Science and ICT through the National Research Foundation of Korea [NRF-2012M1A2A2026556, NRF-2012M1A2A2026557]
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Nanomaterials (NMs) are mostly synthesized by chemical and physical methods, but biological synthesis is also receiving great attention. However, the mechanisms for biological producibility of NMs, crystalline versus amorphous, are not yet understood. Here we report biosynthesis of 60 different NMs by employing a recombinant Escherichia coli strain coexpressing metallothionein, a metal-binding protein, and phytochelatin synthase that synthesizes a metal-binding peptide phytochelatin. Both an in vivo method employing live cells and an in vitro method employing the cell extract are used to synthesize NMs. The periodic table is scanned to select 35 suitable elements, followed by biosynthesis of their NMs. Nine crystalline single-elements of Mn3O4, Fe3O4, Cu2O, Mo, Ag, In(OH)(3), SnO2, Te, and Au are synthesized, while the other 16 elements result in biosynthesis of amorphous NMs or no NM synthesis. Producibility and crystallinity of the NMs are analyzed using a Pourbaix diagram that predicts the stable chemical species of each element for NM biosynthesis by varying reduction potential and pH. Based on the analyses, the initial pH of reactions is changed from 6.5 to 7.5, resulting in biosynthesis of various crystalline NMs of those previously amorphous or notsynthesized ones. This strategy is extended to biosynthesize multi-element NMs including CoFe2O4, NiFe2O4, ZnMn2O4, ZnFe2O4, Ag2S, Ag2TeO3, Ag2WO4, Hg3TeO6, PbMoO4, PbWO4, and Pb-5(VO4)(3)OH NMs. The strategy described here allows biosynthesis of NMs with various properties, providing a platform for manufacturing various NMs in an environmentally friendly manner.
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