Biosurfactant coated silver and iron oxide nanoparticles with enhanced anti-biofilm and anti-adhesive properties

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are among the hazardous biofilm forming bacteria ubiquitous in industrial/clinical wastes. Serious efforts are required to develop effective strategies to control surface-growing antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacterial communities which they are emerging as a global health issue. Blocking hazardous biofilms would be a useful aspect of biosurfactant coated nanoparticles (NPs). In this regard, we report a facile method for the synthesis of rhamnolipid (RL) coated silver (Ag) and iron oxide (Fe3O4) NPs and propose the mechanism of their synergistic antibacterial and anti-adhesive properties against biofilms formed by P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. These NPs demonstrated excellent anti-biofilm activity not only during the biofilms formation but also on the pre-formed biofilms. Mechanistically, RL coated silver (35 nm) and Fe3O4 NPs (48 nm) generate reactive oxygen species, which contribute to the antimicrobial activity. The presence of RLs shell on the nanoparticles significantly reduces the cell adhesion by modifying the surface hydrophobicity and hence enhancing the anti-biofilm property of NPs against both mentioned strains. These findings suggest that RL coated Ag and Fe3O4 NPs may be used as potent alternate to reduce the infection severity by inhibiting the biofilm formation and, therefore, they possess potential biomedical applications for antibacterial coatings and wound dressings.