Photosynthetic Bacteria Do It Better

One of the most investigated photosynthetic anoxygenic microorganisms [1] is the purple non-sulfur bacterium <i>Rhodobacter </i>(<i>R.</i>) <i>sphaeroides</i>, recently reclassified as <i>Cereibacter sphaeroides</i> [2], belonging to the family Paracoccaceae in the class α-proteobacteria. We are interested in exploiting molecules, enzymes, isolated inner structures and the whole metabolically active cells, as active components in photoconversion processes to be exploited in optoelectronic devices, photoelectrochemical cells, and sensory systems with a particular focusing on the interfaces of all these components with electrodes.<br/>Based on the promising evidences of their photo responses, we explore the developing of biohybrid photoelectrochemical systems exploiting adhesivity and conductive properties of polydopamine (PDA) [3] starting from the biocompatibility of the polymer and its monomer [4] to the assemble of conductive coatings as biotic-abiotic interfaces in biohybrid photoelectrochemical devices by encapsulating of the bacterial cells of <i>R. sphaeroides</i> [5] and <i>R. capsulatus </i>[6] to ensure electronic communication.<br/>Our group is also involved in other applications that span from photosynthetic bio-inspired sunlight pumped laser to biohydrogen generation. An account of these running research projects will be also presented.<br/><br/>This work was funded by the Fonds National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique, project <i>Phosbury - Photosynthetic bacteria in Self-assembled Biocompatible coatings for the transduction of energy</i> - (Project Nr CRSII5_205925/1)<br/><br/><br/>[1] I. Kushkevych, et al. <i>Int. J. Mol. Sci.</i> 22, 6398 (2021)<br/>[2] A. Hördt,et al. <i>Frontiers in Microbiology,</i> 11 ( 2020)<br/>[3] Y. Liu at al. <i>Chem. </i><i>Rev. </i>114, 5057–5115 (2014)<br/>[4] R. Labarile et al. <i>MRS Advances</i> 8(8), 423–428 (2023)<br/>[5] R. Labarile et al. <i>Nano Research</i> <i>17, </i>875-881<i> </i>(2023)<br/>[6] G. Buscemi, D. Vona, P. Stufano, R. Labarile, P. Cosma, A. Agostiano, M. Trotta, G.M. Farinola, M. Grattieri, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 14(23), 26631–26641(2022)