Effects of surface charge and ligand type of Au nanoparticles on green fluorescent protein-expressing Escherichia coli

The effects of the surface charge and ligand type of three types of Au nanoparticles (NPs), namely anionic polyethylene glycol (PEG)-Au NPs, anionic citrate (Cit)-Au NPs, and cationic branched polyethylenimine (bPEI)-Au NPs, on green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing Escherichia coli were evaluated through the combined analysis of optical density (OD) and fluorescence intensity (FI). OD and FI can provide information about cell growth and metabolism of bacteria, respectively. The results demonstrated that PEG- and Cit-Au NPs had no major effects on the OD and FI of GFP-expressing bacteria. However, it was found that Cit-Au NPs may slightly influence cell metabolism at higher concentrations, although it is necessary to perform further in-depth study to clarify this issue. Cationic bPEI-Au NPs showed significant effects on cell density and metabolism of E. coli, with an especially strong effect on metabolism. The combined analysis of OD and FI may be useful for monitoring the effects of a wide range of nanomaterials on microorganisms.