Engineered Bacteria That Self-assemble Bioglass Polysilicate Coatings Display Enhanced Light Focusing

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2024 Dec 10

PMID 39656206

Authors

Lynn M Sidor

Michelle M Beaulieu

Ilia Rasskazov

B Cansu Acarturk

Jie Ren

Emerson Jenen

Lycka Kamoen

Maria Vazquez Vitali

P Scott Carney

Greg R Schmidt

Wil V Srubar 3rd

Elio A Abbondanzieri

Anne S Meyer

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cutting-edge photonic devices frequently rely on microparticle components to focus and manipulate light. Conventional methods used to produce these microparticle components frequently offer limited control of their structural properties or require low-throughput nanofabrication of more complex structures. Here, we employ a synthetic biology approach to produce environmentally friendly, living microlenses with tunable structural properties. We engineered bacteria to display the silica biomineralization enzyme silicatein from aquatic sea sponges. Our silicatein-expressing bacteria can self-assemble a shell of polysilicate "bioglass" around themselves. Remarkably, the polysilicate-encapsulated bacteria can focus light into intense nanojets that are nearly an order of magnitude brighter than unmodified bacteria. Polysilicate-encapsulated bacteria are metabolically active for up to 4 mo, potentially allowing them to sense and respond to stimuli over time. Our data demonstrate that synthetic biology offers a pathway for producing inexpensive and durable photonic components that exhibit unique optical properties.

References

Rampersad S . Multiple applications of Alamar Blue as an indicator of metabolic function and cellular health in cell viability bioassays. Sensors (Basel). 2012; 12(9):12347-60. PMC: 3478843. DOI: 10.3390/s120912347. View

Lee T, Krupa R, Zhang F, Hajimorad M, Holtz W, Prasad N . BglBrick vectors and datasheets: A synthetic biology platform for gene expression. J Biol Eng. 2011; 5:12. PMC: 3189095. DOI: 10.1186/1754-1611-5-12. View

Shimizu K, Cha J, Stucky G, Morse D . Silicatein alpha: cathepsin L-like protein in sponge biosilica. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95(11):6234-8. PMC: 27641. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.11.6234. View

Surdo S, Duocastella M, Diaspro A . Nanopatterning with Photonic Nanojets: Review and Perspectives in Biomedical Research. Micromachines (Basel). 2021; 12(3). PMC: 8000863. DOI: 10.3390/mi12030256. View

Lecler S, Takakura Y, Meyrueis P . Properties of a three-dimensional photonic jet. Opt Lett. 2005; 30(19):2641-3. DOI: 10.1364/ol.30.002641. View

Nguyen H, ODonovan L, Venter H, Russell C, McCluskey A, Page S . Comparison of Two Transmission Electron Microscopy Methods to Visualize Drug-Induced Alterations of Gram-Negative Bacterial Morphology. Antibiotics (Basel). 2021; 10(3). PMC: 8002630. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10030307. View

Wang N, Li X, Chen J, Lin Z, Ng J . Gradient and scattering forces of anti-reflection-coated spheres in an aplanatic beam. Sci Rep. 2018; 8(1):17423. PMC: 6258675. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-35575-1. View

Elowitz M, Surette M, Wolf P, Stock J, Leibler S . Protein mobility in the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1998; 181(1):197-203. PMC: 103549. DOI: 10.1128/JB.181.1.197-203.1999. View

Shimizu K, Morse D . Silicatein: A Unique Silica-Synthesizing Catalytic Triad Hydrolase From Marine Sponge Skeletons and Its Multiple Applications. Methods Enzymol. 2018; 605:429-455. DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2018.02.025. View

10.

Wang P, Robert L, Pelletier J, Dang W, Taddei F, Wright A . Robust growth of Escherichia coli. Curr Biol. 2010; 20(12):1099-103. PMC: 2902570. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.04.045. View

11.

Muller W, Schlossmacher U, Wang X, Boreiko A, Brandt D, Wolf S . Poly(silicate)-metabolizing silicatein in siliceous spicules and silicasomes of demosponges comprises dual enzymatic activities (silica polymerase and silica esterase). FEBS J. 2007; 275(2):362-70. DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2007.06206.x. View

12.

Francisco J, Earhart C, Georgiou G . Transport and anchoring of beta-lactamase to the external surface of Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992; 89(7):2713-7. PMC: 48732. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.89.7.2713. View

13.

Mao X, Yang Y, Dai H, Luo D, Yao B, Yan S . Tunable photonic nanojet formed by generalized Luneburg lens. Opt Express. 2015; 23(20):26426-33. DOI: 10.1364/OE.23.026426. View

14.

Itagi A, Challener W . Optics of photonic nanojets. J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis. 2006; 22(12):2847-58. DOI: 10.1364/josaa.22.002847. View

15.

Sundar V, Yablon A, Grazul J, Ilan M, Aizenberg J . Fibre-optical features of a glass sponge. Nature. 2003; 424(6951):899-900. DOI: 10.1038/424899a. View

16.

Darzynkiewicz Z, Traganos F, Staiano-Coico L, Kapuscinski J, Melamed M . Interaction of rhodamine 123 with living cells studied by flow cytometry. Cancer Res. 1982; 42(3):799-806. View

17.

Chen Z, Taflove A, Backman V . Photonic nanojet enhancement of backscattering of light by nanoparticles: a potential novel visible-light ultramicroscopy technique. Opt Express. 2009; 12(7):1214-20. DOI: 10.1364/opex.12.001214. View

18.

Li Y, Liu X, Yang X, Lei H, Zhang Y, Li B . Enhancing Upconversion Fluorescence with a Natural Bio-microlens. ACS Nano. 2017; 11(11):10672-10680. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b04420. View

19.

Liu C . Photonic jets produced by dielectric micro cuboids. Appl Opt. 2015; 54(29):8694-9. DOI: 10.1364/AO.54.008694. View

20.

Muller W, Engel S, Wang X, Wolf S, Tremel W, Thakur N . Bioencapsulation of living bacteria (Escherichia coli) with poly(silicate) after transformation with silicatein-alpha gene. Biomaterials. 2007; 29(7):771-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2007.10.038. View