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Milano F, Giotta L, Lambreva MD. Perspectives on nanomaterial-empowered bioremediation of heavy metals by photosynthetic microorganisms. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY : PPB 2024; 216:109090. [PMID: 39243581 DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2024.109090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2024] [Revised: 07/05/2024] [Accepted: 09/02/2024] [Indexed: 09/09/2024]
Abstract
Environmental remediation of heavy metals (HMs) is a crucial aspect of sustainable development, safeguarding natural resources, biodiversity, and the delicate balance of ecosystems, all of which are critical for sustaining life on our planet. The bioremediation of HMs by unicellular phototrophs harnesses their intrinsic detoxification mechanisms, including biosorption, bioaccumulation, and biotransformation. These processes can be remarkably effective in mitigating HMs, particularly at lower contaminant concentrations, surpassing the efficacy of conventional physicochemical methods and offering greater sustainability and cost-effectiveness. Here, we explore the potential of various engineered nanomaterials to further enhance the capacity and efficiency of HM bioremediation based on photosynthetic microorganisms. The critical assessment of the interactions between nanomaterials and unicellular phototrophs emphasised the ability of tailored nanomaterials to sustain photosynthetic metabolism and the defence system of microorganisms, thereby enhancing their growth, biomass accumulation, and overall bioremediation capacity. Key factors that could shape future research efforts toward sustainable nanobioremediation of HM are discussed, and knowledge gaps in the field have been identified. This study sheds light on the potential of nanobioremediation by unicellular phototrophs as an efficient, scalable, and cost-effective solution for HM removal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Milano
- Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council (CNR), Strada Provinciale Lecce-Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
| | - Livia Giotta
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Strada Provinciale Lecce-Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
| | - Maya D Lambreva
- Institute for Biological Systems, National Research Council (CNR), Strada Provinciale 35d, N. 9, 00010, Montelibretti, Rome, Italy.
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Atay G, Holyavkin C, Can H, Arslan M, Topaloğlu A, Trotta M, Çakar ZP. Evolutionary engineering and molecular characterization of cobalt-resistant Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1412294. [PMID: 38993486 PMCID: PMC11236759 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1412294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024] Open
Abstract
With its versatile metabolism including aerobic and anaerobic respiration, photosynthesis, photo-fermentation and nitrogen fixation, Rhodobacter sphaeroides can adapt to diverse environmental and nutritional conditions, including the presence of various stressors such as heavy metals. Thus, it is an important microorganism to study the molecular mechanisms of bacterial stress response and resistance, and to be used as a microbial cell factory for biotechnological applications or bioremediation. In this study, a highly cobalt-resistant and genetically stable R. sphaeroides strain was obtained by evolutionary engineering, also known as adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), a powerful strategy to improve and characterize genetically complex, desired microbial phenotypes, such as stress resistance. For this purpose, successive batch selection was performed in the presence of gradually increased cobalt stress levels between 0.1-15 mM CoCl2 for 64 passages and without any mutagenesis of the initial population prior to selection. The mutant individuals were randomly chosen from the last population and analyzed in detail. Among these, a highly cobalt-resistant and genetically stable evolved strain called G7 showed significant cross-resistance against various stressors such as iron, magnesium, nickel, aluminum, and NaCl. Growth profiles and flame atomic absorption spectrometry analysis results revealed that in the presence of 4 mM CoCl2 that significantly inhibited growth of the reference strain, the growth of the evolved strain was unaffected, and higher levels of cobalt ions were associated with G7 cells than the reference strain. This may imply that cobalt ions accumulated in or on G7 cells, indicating the potential of G7 for cobalt bioremediation. Whole genome sequencing of the evolved strain identified 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms in various genes that are associated with transcriptional regulators, NifB family-FeMo cofactor biosynthesis, putative virulence factors, TRAP-T family transporter, sodium/proton antiporter, and also in genes with unknown functions, which may have a potential role in the cobalt resistance of R. sphaeroides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Güneş Atay
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Letters, Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
- Dr. Orhan Öcalgiray Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Center (İTÜ-MOBGAM), Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Can Holyavkin
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Letters, Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
- Dr. Orhan Öcalgiray Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Center (İTÜ-MOBGAM), Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Hanay Can
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Letters, Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
- Dr. Orhan Öcalgiray Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Center (İTÜ-MOBGAM), Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Mevlüt Arslan
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Letters, Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
- Dr. Orhan Öcalgiray Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Center (İTÜ-MOBGAM), Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Alican Topaloğlu
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Letters, Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
- Dr. Orhan Öcalgiray Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Center (İTÜ-MOBGAM), Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Massimo Trotta
- IPCF-CNR Istituto per I processi Chimico-Fisici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bari, Italy
| | - Zeynep Petek Çakar
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Letters, Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
- Dr. Orhan Öcalgiray Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Center (İTÜ-MOBGAM), Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Türkiye
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Buscemi G, Vona D, Stufano P, Labarile R, Cosma P, Agostiano A, Trotta M, Farinola GM, Grattieri M. Bio-Inspired Redox-Adhesive Polydopamine Matrix for Intact Bacteria Biohybrid Photoanodes. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2022; 14:26631-26641. [PMID: 35639658 PMCID: PMC9204692 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c02410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Interfacing intact and metabolically active photosynthetic bacteria with abiotic electrodes requires both establishing extracellular electron transfer and immobilizing the biocatalyst on electrode surfaces. Artificial approaches for photoinduced electron harvesting through redox polymers reported in literature require the separate synthesis of artificial polymeric matrices and their subsequent combination with bacterial cells, making the development of biophotoanodes complex and less sustainable. Herein, we report a one-pot biocompatible and sustainable approach, inspired by the byssus of mussels, that provides bacterial cells adhesion on multiple surfaces under wet conditions to obtain biohybrid photoanodes with facilitated photoinduced electron harvesting. Purple bacteria were utilized as a model organism, as they are of great interest for the development of photobioelectrochemical systems for H2 and NH3 synthesis, biosensing, and bioremediation purposes. The polydopamine matrix preparation strategy allowed the entrapment of active purple bacteria cells by initial oxygenic polymerization followed by electrochemical polymerization. Our results unveil that the deposition of bacterial cells with simultaneous polymerization of polydopamine on the electrode surface enables a 5-fold enhancement in extracellular electron transfer at the biotic/abiotic interface while maintaining the viability of the cells. The presented approach paves the way for a more sustainable development of biohybrid photoelectrodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriella Buscemi
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università degli Studi
di Bari “Aldo Moro”, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
- IPCF-CNR
Istituto per i Processi Chimico Fisici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Danilo Vona
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università degli Studi
di Bari “Aldo Moro”, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Paolo Stufano
- CNR-NANOTEC,
Institute of Nanotechnology, Consiglio Nazionale
delle Ricerche, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Rossella Labarile
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università degli Studi
di Bari “Aldo Moro”, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
- IPCF-CNR
Istituto per i Processi Chimico Fisici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Pinalysa Cosma
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università degli Studi
di Bari “Aldo Moro”, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
- IPCF-CNR
Istituto per i Processi Chimico Fisici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Angela Agostiano
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università degli Studi
di Bari “Aldo Moro”, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
- IPCF-CNR
Istituto per i Processi Chimico Fisici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Massimo Trotta
- IPCF-CNR
Istituto per i Processi Chimico Fisici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Gianluca M. Farinola
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università degli Studi
di Bari “Aldo Moro”, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Matteo Grattieri
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università degli Studi
di Bari “Aldo Moro”, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
- IPCF-CNR
Istituto per i Processi Chimico Fisici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy
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