Nanorg Microbial Factories: Light-Driven Renewable Biochemical Synthesis Using Quantum Dot-Bacteria Nanobiohybrids

Yuchen Ding; John R. Bertram; Carrie Eckert; Rajesh Reddy Bommareddy; Rajan Patel; Alex Conradie; Samantha Bryan; Prashant Nagpal

doi:10.1021/jacs.9b02549

Nanorg Microbial Factories: Light-Driven Renewable Biochemical Synthesis Using Quantum Dot-Bacteria Nanobiohybrids

Yuchen Ding, John R. Bertram, Carrie Eckert, Rajesh Reddy Bommareddy, Rajan Patel, Alex Conradie, Samantha Bryan, Prashant Nagpal

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

124 Scopus citations

Abstract

Living cells do not interface naturally with nanoscale materials, although such artificial organisms can have unprecedented multifunctional properties, like wireless activation of enzyme function using electromagnetic stimuli. Realizing such interfacing in a nanobiohybrid organism (or nanorg) requires (1) chemical coupling via affinity binding and self-assembly, (2) the energetic coupling between optoelectronic states of artificial materials with the cellular process, and (3) the design of appropriate interfaces ensuring biocompatibility. Here we show that seven different core-shell quantum dots (QDs), with excitations ranging from ultraviolet to near-infrared energies, couple with targeted enzyme sites in bacteria. When illuminated by light, these QDs drive the renewable production of different biofuels and chemicals using carbon-dioxide (CO₂), water, and nitrogen (from air) as substrates. These QDs use their zinc-rich shell facets for affinity attachment to the proteins. Cysteine zwitterion ligands enable uptake through the cell, facilitating cell survival. Together, these nanorgs catalyze light-induced air-water-CO₂ reduction with a high turnover number (TON) of ∼10⁶-10⁸ (mols of product per mol of cells) to biofuels like isopropanol (IPA), 2,3-butanediol (BDO), C₁₁-C₁₅ methyl ketones (MKs), and hydrogen (H₂); and chemicals such as formic acid (FA), ammonia (NH₃), ethylene (C₂H₄), and degradable bioplastics polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Therefore, these resting cells function as nanomicrobial factories powered by light.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	10272-10282
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of the American Chemical Society
Volume	141
Issue number	26
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b02549
State	Published - Jul 3 2019
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge Prof. Anushree Chatterjee for allowing the use of her laboratory and equipment, Dennis Dean and Valerie Cash (Virginia Tech) for providing the A. vinelandii DJ995 and DJ1003 bacteria, Alex Jenkins and Prof. Will Medlin for MS measurements, and Prof. Jeff Cameron for helpful discussions. The imaging work was performed at the BioFrontiers Institute Advanced Light Microscopy Core. Laser scanning confocal microscopy was performed on a Nikon A1R microscope supported by NIST-CU Cooperative Agreement award number 70NANB15H226. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation CAREER award CBET-1351281. S.B., R.P., and R.B.R. were supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (BBRC and EPSRC, grant number BB/ L013940/1).

Funders	Funder number
BBRC
NIST-CU	70NANB15H226
National Science Foundation	CBET-1351281
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council	BB/L013940/1

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1021/jacs.9b02549

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abstract = "Living cells do not interface naturally with nanoscale materials, although such artificial organisms can have unprecedented multifunctional properties, like wireless activation of enzyme function using electromagnetic stimuli. Realizing such interfacing in a nanobiohybrid organism (or nanorg) requires (1) chemical coupling via affinity binding and self-assembly, (2) the energetic coupling between optoelectronic states of artificial materials with the cellular process, and (3) the design of appropriate interfaces ensuring biocompatibility. Here we show that seven different core-shell quantum dots (QDs), with excitations ranging from ultraviolet to near-infrared energies, couple with targeted enzyme sites in bacteria. When illuminated by light, these QDs drive the renewable production of different biofuels and chemicals using carbon-dioxide (CO2), water, and nitrogen (from air) as substrates. These QDs use their zinc-rich shell facets for affinity attachment to the proteins. Cysteine zwitterion ligands enable uptake through the cell, facilitating cell survival. Together, these nanorgs catalyze light-induced air-water-CO2 reduction with a high turnover number (TON) of ∼106-108 (mols of product per mol of cells) to biofuels like isopropanol (IPA), 2,3-butanediol (BDO), C11-C15 methyl ketones (MKs), and hydrogen (H2); and chemicals such as formic acid (FA), ammonia (NH3), ethylene (C2H4), and degradable bioplastics polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Therefore, these resting cells function as nanomicrobial factories powered by light.",

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Nanorg Microbial Factories: Light-Driven Renewable Biochemical Synthesis Using Quantum Dot-Bacteria Nanobiohybrids

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

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