Anti-biofilm Activity of Graphene Quantum Dots via Self-Assembly with Bacterial Amyloid Proteins

Yichun Wang; Usha Kadiyala; Zhibei Qu; Paolo Elvati; Christopher Altheim; Nicholas A. Kotov; Angela Violi; J. Scott VanEpps

In the presence of 50 μg/mL GQDs, the biofilm grown on PNG was largely dispersed whereas the biofilm on TSBG retained its structure (Figure 1b, e) . A further dispersion of biofilm structure occurred in the presence of 500 μg/mL GQDs in PNG condition, while TSBG biofilm remaining fully present (Figure 1c, f) . According to quantitative image analysis, porosity of the PNG biofilm ( Figure 1g ) increased from 29.4 ± 8.8% to 50.7 ± 6.9% when cultured with 50 μg/mL GQDs; the porosity further increased to 63.4 ± 5.0% for 500 μg/mL GQDs. The thickness of the PNG biofilm ( Figure 1h ) decreased from 21.9 ± 2.5 μm to 16.9 ± 3.4 μm when cultured with 50 μg/mL GQDs; the thickness further decreased to 12.7 ± 3.4 μm with 500 μg/mL GQDs. The thickness for biofilms grown in TSBG media showed limited change with addition of any dose of GQDs ( Figure S2 ). All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.