In Vivo Synthesis of Nanocomposites Using the Recombinant Escherichia coli

Abstract

Biogenic gold nanorod (AuNR)-Ag core-shell nanocomposites (NCs) are synthesized by using recombinant Escherichia coli to demonstrate in vivo synthesis of biogenic NCs for the first time. The chemically synthesized AuNRs are internalized into the E. coli, and Ag ions are reduced and grown on the surface of the AuNRs with the assistance of metal-binding proteins, producing biogenic core-shell AuNR-Ag NCs. The core-shell structure of the biogenic AuNR-Ag NC is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The biogenic AuNR-Ag NCs exhibit good plasmonic effects. While the core-shell morphology of the AuNR and Ag NCs is due to the similar lattice of Au and Ag, the shape of the biogenic NCs composed of gold nanoparticles and Fe is aciniform, and that of Fe₃ O₄ NPs and Au/Ag is a network structure, demonstrating the controllability of biogenic nanosynthesis using diverse metal combinations with different NC morphologies.

Keywords: bacteria; core-shell; gold nanorod; in vivo synthesis; nanocomposites.