@article {3044,
	title = {Microbial nanowires with genetically modified peptide ligands to sustainably fabricate electronic sensing devices.},
	journal = {Biosens Bioelectron},
	volume = {226},
	year = {2023},
	month = {2023 Apr 15},
	pages = {115147},
	abstract = {<p>Nanowires have substantial potential as the sensor component in electronic sensing devices. However, surface functionalization of traditional nanowire and nanotube materials with short peptides that increase sensor selectivity and sensitivity requires complex chemistries with toxic reagents. In contrast, microorganisms can assemble pilin monomers into protein nanowires with intrinsic conductivity from renewable feedstocks, yielding an electronic material that is robust and stable in applications, but also biodegradable. Here we report that the sensitivity and selectivity of protein nanowire-based sensors can be modified with a simple plug and play genetic approach in which a short peptide sequence, designed to bind the analyte of interest, is incorporated into the pilin protein that is microbially assembled into nanowires. We employed a scalable Escherichia coli chassis to fabricate protein nanowires that displayed either a peptide previously demonstrated to effectively bind ammonia, or a peptide known to bind acetic acid. Sensors comprised of thin films of the nanowires amended with the ammonia-specific peptide had a ca. 100-fold greater response to ammonia than sensors made with unmodified protein nanowires. Protein nanowires with the peptide that binds acetic acid yielded a 4-fold higher response than nanowires without the peptide. The protein nanowire-based sensors had greater responses than previously reported sensors fabricated with other nanomaterials. The results demonstrate that protein nanowires with enhanced sensor response for analytes of interest can be fabricated with a flexible genetic strategy that sustainably eliminates the energy, environmental, and health concerns associated with other common nanomaterials.</p>},
	keywords = {Acetic Acid, Ammonia, Biosensing Techniques, Electronics, Fimbriae Proteins, Ligands, Nanowires, Peptides},
	issn = {1873-4235},
	doi = {10.1016/j.bios.2023.115147},
	author = {Lekbach, Yassir and Ueki, Toshiyuki and Liu, Xiaomeng and Woodard, Trevor and Yao, Jun and Lovley, Derek R}
}
@article {3048,
	title = {Microbial biofilms for electricity generation from water evaporation and power to wearables.},
	journal = {Nat Commun},
	volume = {13},
	year = {2022},
	month = {2022 Jul 28},
	pages = {4369},
	abstract = {<p>Employing renewable materials for fabricating clean energy harvesting devices can further improve sustainability. Microorganisms can be mass produced with renewable feedstocks. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to engineer microbial biofilms as a cohesive, flexible material for long-term continuous electricity production from evaporating water. Single biofilm sheet (~40 {\textmu}m thick) serving as the functional component in an electronic device continuously produces power density (~1 μW/cm) higher than that achieved with thicker engineered materials. The energy output is comparable to that achieved with similar sized biofilms catalyzing current production in microbial fuel cells, without the need for an organic feedstock or maintaining cell viability. The biofilm can be sandwiched between a pair of mesh electrodes for scalable device integration and current production. The devices maintain the energy production in ionic solutions and can be used as skin-patch devices to harvest electricity from sweat and moisture on skin to continuously power wearable devices. Biofilms made from different microbial species show generic current production from water evaporation. These results suggest that we can harness the ubiquity of biofilms in nature as additional sources of biomaterial for evaporation-based electricity generation in diverse aqueous environments.</p>},
	keywords = {Bioelectric Energy Sources, Biofilms, Electricity, Electrodes, Water, Wearable Electronic Devices},
	issn = {2041-1723},
	doi = {10.1038/s41467-022-32105-6},
	author = {Liu, Xiaomeng and Ueki, Toshiyuki and Gao, Hongyan and Woodard, Trevor L and Nevin, Kelly P and Fu, Tianda and Fu, Shuai and Sun, Lu and Lovley, Derek R and Yao, Jun}
}
