Wall teichoic acids govern cationic gold nanoparticle interaction with Gram-positive bacterial cell walls.

ABSTRACT: Molecular-level understanding of nanomaterial interactions with bacterial cell surfaces can facilitate design of antimicrobial and antifouling surfaces and inform assessment of potential consequences of nanomaterial release into the environment. Here, we investigate the interaction of cationic nanoparticles with the main surface components of Gram-positive bacteria: peptidoglycan and teichoic acids. We employed intact cells and isolated cell walls from wild type Bacillus subtilis and two mutant strains differing in wall teichoic acid composition to investigate interaction with gold nanoparticles functionalized with cationic, branched polyethylenimine. We quantified nanoparticle association with intact cells by flow cytometry and determined sites of interaction by solid-state ³¹

SUBMITTER: Caudill ER 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8152635 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature