Functionalizing bacterial cell surfaces with a phage protein

Abstract

Functionalization of bacterial cell surfaces has the potential to introduce new activities by chemical modification. Here we show that a bacteriophage–receptor complex can be used to functionalize the surface of two Gram-negative proteobacteria, Escherichia coli and Ralstonia eutropha with CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles. This work highlights the potential for using microbe–phage interactions to generate new functions on living cells.