Coat assembly in Bacillus subtilis serves as a tractable model for the study of the self-assembly process of biological structures and has a significant potential for use in nano-biotechnological applications. In the present study, the morphology of B. subtilis spores was investigated by magnetically driven dynamic force microscopy (MAC mode atomic force microscopy) under physiological conditions. B. subtilis spores appeared as prolate structures, with a length of 0.6-3 microm and a width of about 0.5-2 microm. The spore surface was mainly covered with bump-like structures with diameters ranging from 8 to 70 nm. Besides topographical explorations, single molecule recognition force spectroscopy (SMRFS) was used to characterize the spore coat protein CotA. This protein was specifically recognized by a polyclonal antibody directed against CotA (anti-CotA), the antibody being covalently tethered to the AFM tip via a polyethylene glycol linker. The unbinding force between CotA and anti-CotA was determined as 55 +/- 2 pN. From the high-binding probability of more than 20% in force-distance cycles it is concluded that CotA locates in the outer surface of B. subtilis spores.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmr.828 | DOI Listing |
ACS Nano
January 2025
Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019 - UMR 9017 - CIIL - Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille, F-59000 Lille, France.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has reached a significant level of maturity in biology, demonstrated by the diversity of modes for obtaining not only topographical images but also insightful mechanical and adhesion data by performing force measurements on delicate samples with a controlled environment (e.g., liquid, temperature, pH).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Nano
January 2025
International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials (ICQD), Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
Synergy between superconductivity and ferromagnetism may offer great opportunities in nondissipative spintronics and topological quantum computing. Yet at the microscopic level, the exchange splitting of the electronic states responsible for ferromagnetism is inherently incompatible with the spin-singlet nature of conventional superconducting Cooper pairs. Here, we exploit the recently discovered van der Waals ferromagnets as enabling platforms with marvelous controllability to unravel the myth between ferromagnetism and superconductivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrobiol Spectr
January 2025
Center for Infectious Diseases, Lab of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Unlabelled: Due to increasing antimicrobial resistance and side effects caused by current standard antimicrobial regimens used for treatment of prosthetic joint infection (PJI), alternative options are urgently needed. We aimed to investigate the effect of clindamycin in different exposure strategies against in an mature biofilm model. In short, 7-day biofilms were generated on polystyrene plates and titanium-aluminum-vanadium discs using a clinical PJI isolate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Univ. Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille, Univ. Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, Junia-ISEN, UMR 8520-IEMN, F-59000 Lille, France.
The effect of growth temperature and subsequent annealing on the epitaxy of both single- and few-layer TaSe on Se-terminated GaP(111) substrates is investigated. The selective growth of the 1T and 1H phases is shown up to 1 ML according to X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopies. The 1H monolayer, favored at low temperatures, exhibits a very homogeneous coverage after annealing, while the 1T ML, grown at high temperatures, is characterized by a better in-plane orientation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Polyacene analogues, consisting of short acene segments separated by nonbenzenoid rings, offer intriguing electronic properties and magnetic interactions. Pentalene-bridged polyacenes (PPs), in particular, hold promise for enhancing the electrical conductivity and potential open-shell ground states. However, PPs have remained elusive in solution chemistry due to poor solubility and limited synthetic protocols.
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