Functional magnetic nanoparticles for facile viable but nonculturable bacteria separation and purification

Abstract

The functional surface-modified MNPs were capable of capture E. coli with high efficiency.

After induced to VBNC state by chlorination, E. coli cells could be separated by MNPs with an additional incubation process.

This study provides a facile and economic method for VBNC cell enrichment and purification.

GRAPHIC ABSTRACT

Viable But Nonculturable (VBNC) Bacteria, which represent a unique population of microorganisms in drinking water systems, have become a potential threat to human health. Current studies on VBNC cells usually fail to obtain pure VBNC state bacteria, which may lead to inaccurate results. We therefore introduce a novel method of VBNC cell separation and purification in this paper. PAH-coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized and found to be capable of capturing and releasing bacterial cells with high efficiency. With the aid of an additional incubation step, VBNC cells were easily isolated and purified from normal bacteria using functional MNPs. Our method represents a new technique that can be utilized in studies of VBNCs.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Drinking water biosafety / VBNC, Nanoparticles / Magnetic separation and purification

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21407141).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article athttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11783-016-0874-6 and is accessible for authorized users.

Funding

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2016 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg