Layer‐by‐Layer Nano‐Encapsulation of Microbes: Controlled Cell Surface Modification and Investigation of Substrate Uptake in Bacteria

Abstract

LbL nano self-assembly coating of A. vinosum with different polyelectrolyte combinations is presented as an example to investigate substrate uptake in bacteria. The effects of surface charge and the formation of a physical barrier provides new insights in the contact mechanisms between the cell surface and insoluble elemental sulfur. Furthermore, uptake of sulfide by encapsulated cells was investigated. Growth experiments of coated cells showed that surface charge did neither affect sulfide uptake nor the contact formation between the cells and solid sulfur. However, increasing layers slowed or inhibited the uptake of sulfide and elemental sulfur. This work demonstrates how defining surface properties of bacteria has potential for microbiological and biotechnological applications.

Truly Nonionic Polymer Shells for the Encapsulation of Living Cells

“…In this test, yEGFP expression is induced by the addition of an initiating agent, galactose (Gal) to our S. cerevisiae yeast cells with incorporated yEGFP reporter. [49,50,51] The rate of yEGFP expression controls the rate of normalizing fluorescence variation of expressed yEGFP with strong green fluorescence ( Figure 11). As apparent from this data, yEGFP is not generated in the absence of galactose.…”

“…[49][50][51][52][53][54] The use of synthetic polycations in conventional LbL assembly, such as poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS), poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH), and polyethyleneimine (PEI) pose severe limitations on the potential application of the LbL approach to cell surface engineering. It has been suggested that overall toxicity of the polyelectrolytes originates from the positive charge of polycations.…”

Analysis of self-assembly of S-layer protein slp-B53 from Lysinibacillus sphaericus

“…As support for S-layers, polyelectrolyte coatings [substrate, silica wafer SiO 2 + polyelectrolyte layer composed of three alternating layers of polyethylenimine (MW 25,000, Sigma), polystyrene sulfonate (MW 70,000, Sigma), and polyethylenimine, PEL coating with slp-B53 (approx. 0.2 mg mL −1 )] were produced as described before (Georgieva et al 2004;Balkundi et al 2009;Franz et al 2010).…”

Biological responses of T cells encapsulated with polyelectrolyte-coated gold nanorods and their cellular activities in a co-culture system

“…The LBL encapsulation technique can also be applied for yeasts, fungi, and bacteria (Franz et al 2010;Diaspro et al 2002;Fakhrullin et al 2009). …”

“…The layer-by-layer (LBL) technique is another attractive approach that can be used for cell encapsulation. This technique provides a well-defined surface, gentle conditions, nanoscale precision, and tuneable multilayer construction (Ai et al 2003;Franz et al 2010)…”