Abstract
Metal nanoparticle synthesis has been observed in several species of bacteria but the underlying mechanisms of synthesis are not well understood. Morganella psychrotolerans is a Gram-negative psychrophilic bacterium that is able to tolerate relatively high concentrations of Cu and Ag ions, and it is through the associated resistance pathways that this species is able to convert metal ions to nanoparticles. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of nanoparticle synthesis, looking at the interaction of the metal binding protein SilE with metal ions using MicroScale Thermophoresis (MST). MST assays give a rapid and accurate determination of binding affinities, allowing for the testing of SilE with a range of environmentally significant metal ions. The binding affinities (Kd) of Ag+ and Cu2+ were measured as 0.17 mM and 0.13 mM respectively, consistent with the observations of strong binding reported in the literature, whereas the binding to Al3+ and Co2+ was measured as Kd values of 4.19 mM and 1.35 mM respectively.
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