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Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Induce Cell Filamentation in Escherichia coli
Author(s) -
Gunawan Cindy,
Teoh Wey Yang,
Marquis Christopher P.,
Amal Rose
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
particle and particle systems characterization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-4117
pISSN - 0934-0866
DOI - 10.1002/ppsc.201200152
Subject(s) - filamentation , zinc , escherichia coli , nanoparticle , internalization , chemistry , biophysics , materials science , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , cell , biology , biochemistry , optics , physics , organic chemistry , laser , engineering , gene
Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) induce morphological transformation of Escherichia coli from its native rod‐shape of ≈2–4 μm to filamentous cells of 20–40 μm in length. The transient response can only be observed at up to 3.5 h proliferation, beyond which the cytotoxic effect is neutralized and the rod‐shape is restored. The filamentation is part of the bacterium SOS response to the Trojan horse‐type internalization of undissolved ZnO solids. In the absence of ZnO solids, no cell filamentation can be observed from the leached soluble zinc fraction or dissolved zinc salt.