Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacterium ubiquitous in the natural environment. It is a recognized producer of various metabolites such as rhamnolipids, biopolymers, and pigments. The latter includes a group of phenazines, with pyocyanin as the most studied example. Pyocyanin is well-known due to its role as the virulence factor in P. aeruginosa infections. However, it also can find use in many technologies, e.g. in agriculture as the agent inducing systemic immunity in plants attacked by fungi or in anticancer therapy due to its antitumor properties. Moreover, due to the ability to transfer the electrons, it found use in colorimetric redox indices and as a component of the sensors or the OLED screens. Another application is as an agent supporting the electron transfer in microbiological fuel cells to obtain more electric energy. In addition, pyocyanin's potential to induce the prophage conversion from lysogenic to lytic cycle was recently reported. It is also worth mentioning that pyocyanin plays an important role in the biodegradation of petroleum-derived environmental contaminants. The potential of pyocyanin is currently studied, concerning both potential inhibitors and stimulants of its production by P. aeruginosa. In the area of interest are many factors, i.e., various nanoparticles or exposure to the electromagnetic field. Among tested nanomaterials are silver, lanthanum oxide, zinc oxide, and graphene decorated with zinc oxide rods. However, there is no data available about the influence of e.g. CNTs. Moreover, the only available scientific report about the influence of electromagnetic fields on pyocyanin production covers a static magnetic field with magnetic induction equal to 200 mT that showed the greater yield of pyocyanin. The review of the literature leads to the conclusion that there is a knowledge gap in the potential use of the above-mentioned stressors to increase the pyocyanin production by P. aeruginosa. This project aims at investigating how nanomaterials (i.e., MWCNT, ZnO), electromagnetic fields (static and rotating electromagnetic field), and a combination of these factors, influence the production of pyocyanin by P. aeruginosa. In the course of the research, mathematical methods such as DoE planning, Response Surface Methodology will be employed. This will lead to the recognition of stressors significantly influencing pyocyanin yield. Moreover, the experiments and mathematical modeling will allow the determination of the optimal process conditions. Furthermore, microbiological and analytical methods will be employed to determine the mechanism of bacteria-stressor interaction. Optical density measurements will be used to assess the cell growth and fluorescence assay to measure the viability of the cells. The optical density measurements will be employed to perform the approximation with the Gompertz model and create the growth curves. Moreover, the quantitative assessment of the obtained pigment will be preliminarily assessed by chloroform-hydrochloric acid extraction and absorbance measurements, later followed by HPLC-MS analyses. In addition, flow cytometry will be employed to determine the influence of the tested stressors on membrane potential and possible reactive oxygen species formation. Epifluorescence phase-contrast microscopy will allow observations of cell viability and mobility and transmission electron microscopy will be used to thoroughly assess cell morphology after exposure to the stressors. Furthermore, genetic assays will be conducted to assess the expression of genes connected to pyocyanin production, oxidative stress, and pyocins regulation. The last step planned in the research outline covers whole-genome sequencing of the most promising samples to identify the regions affected by exposure to the stressors. The project will be implemented in international cooperation with Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes in France and Technische Universitaet in Berlin. The planned research will provide a significant amount of data on the influence of nanomaterials and electromagnetic fields on the production of pyocyanin by P. aeruginosa. Moreover, it will provide information on optimal process conditions that will lead to the highest yield of the pigment. Project will result in an understanding of the mechanism of the interaction between stressors and bacteria production and could provide insight into potential ways to modulate the yield of other bioproducts.
Details
- Project's acronym:
- PyoStress
- Financial Program Name:
- PRELUDIUM
- Organization:
- Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN) (National Science Centre)
- Agreement:
- UMO-2021/41/N/ST8/01094 z dnia 2022-01-18
- Realisation period:
- 2022-01-18 - 2025-01-17
- Research team leader:
- mgr inż. Joanna Jabłońska
- Team members:
-
- Investigator mgr inż. Kamila Justyna Dubrowska
- Investigator mgr inż. Tomasz Waldemar Borowski
- Investigator mgr inż. Dawid Bartosz Sołoducha
- Realised in:
- Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering
- Project's value:
- 209 200.00 PLN
- Request type:
- National Research Programmes
- Domestic:
- Domestic project
- Verified by:
- No verification
Referenced datasets
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