Nanoparticles are attractive materials for engineering applications in catalysis, sensing, electronics, photonics, and medicine as material properties are controlled by particle size and morphology. For example, increasing battery electrode surface area via nanorods increases its charge capacity, which advances essential and ubiquitous portable technologies such as pacemakers, cell phones, and other devices. However, uniform nanostructures with defined properties are challenging to produce. One strategy to improve structure uniformity and reduce synthesis costs is with metal-coating of rod-shaped biotemplates derived from plant viruses such as Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) and Barley Stripe Mosaic Virus (BSMV). BSMV is particularly attractive as it is able to bind twice as much metal as TMV, increasing capacity further. However, current plant-based production platforms are non-ideal as viral architecture is coupled to viral replication and success, making it challenging to control structure for improved battery performance. Here, we develop <i>E. coli</i> as a production platform for BSMV virus-like particles (VLPs), independent from virus replication. Initial heterologous expression of BSMV coat proteins only produced disc-shaped structures indicative of aborted nanorod self-assembly. To successfully create BMSV-VLP nanorods, we fused the gene for BSMV coat protein to an assembly-initiating DNA sequence from TMV, demonstrating heterologous expression of BSMV-VLPs in <i>E. coli</i> for the first time. We further optimized the production process by improving protein expression conditions, solubility, and purification conditions. Produced BSMV VLPs range in size from 20-160 nm. Collectively, our work creates a novel platform for the synthesis of BSMV biotemplates and enables future engineering opportunities for the development of nanomaterials.

Engineering of virus-derived nanoparticles with controlled architecture for diverse applications

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.