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Exopolysaccharide-Derived Carbon Dots for Microbial Viability Assessment
Fengming Lin1, Chengcheng Li1, Zhan Chen2
1State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|November 27, 2018
Summary
New carbon dots (CDs-EPS605) offer a cost-effective and convenient method for assessing microbial viability. This sustainable approach uses bacterial exopolysaccharide and shows low cytotoxicity, improving upon traditional live/dead assay dyes.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Microbiology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Microbial viability assessment is crucial for food safety, antibiotic development, and human health.
- Conventional live/dead assay dyes present challenges including high cost, complex staining procedures, and significant cytotoxicity.
- There is a pressing need for improved, user-friendly, and less toxic alternatives for microbial viability testing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and characterize a novel, cost-effective fluorescent staining agent for microbial viability assessment.
- To evaluate the performance of the new agent, CDs-EPS605, in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, convenience, and cytotoxicity compared to commercial dyes.
- To explore the potential of utilizing microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS) for creating advanced nanomaterials.
Main Methods:
- Facile synthesis of fluorescent N-doped carbon dots (CDs-EPS605) from bacterial amino exopolysaccharide (EPS) via one-step hydrothermal carbonization.
- Characterization of CDs-EPS605 composition (C, H, O, N, P, S) and functional groups (-COOH, -OH, -CONH-, -NH2).
- Assessment of CDs-EPS605 staining capabilities for discriminating between live and dead microorganisms using fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry, evaluating convenience (no light protection or washing needed) and cytotoxicity.
Main Results:
- CDs-EPS605 were successfully synthesized from bacterial EPS using a cost-effective and sustainable method.
- The synthesized CDs-EPS605 demonstrated sensitive and selective staining of dead microorganisms, enabling clear live/dead discrimination.
- The staining protocol using CDs-EPS605 was convenient, requiring no light protection or washing, and exhibited significantly lower cytotoxicity and better photostability than commercial counterparts.
Conclusions:
- CDs-EPS605 represent a simple, cost-effective, and highly effective fluorescent staining agent for microbial viability assessment.
- This novel agent overcomes the limitations of conventional dyes, offering improved convenience and reduced cytotoxicity.
- The study highlights the successful application of microbial EPS in developing advanced nanomaterials and expands the utility of microbial EPS in biotechnology.
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