Biofilm inspired fabrication of functional bacterial cellulose through ex-situ and in-situ approaches

Gilmour, Katie, Aljannat, Mahab, Markwell, Christopher, James, Paul, Scott, Jane, Jiang, Yunhong, Torun, Hamdi, Dade-Robertson, Martyn and Zhang, Meng (2023) Biofilm inspired fabrication of functional bacterial cellulose through ex-situ and in-situ approaches. Carbohydrate Polymers, 304. p. 120482. ISSN 0144-8617

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Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been explored for use in a range of applications including tissue engineering and textiles. BC can be produced from waste streams, but sustainable approaches are needed for functionalisation. To this end, BslA, a B. subtilis biofilm protein was produced recombinantly with and without a cellulose binding module (CBM) and the cell free extract was used to treat BC either ex-situ, through drip coating or in-situ, by incorporating during fermentation. The results showed that ex-situ modified BC increased the hydrophobicity and water contact angle reached 120°. In-situ experiments led to a BC film morphological change and mechanical testing demonstrated that addition of BslA with CBM resulted in a stronger, more elastic material. This study presents a nature inspired approach to functionalise BC using a biofilm hydrophobin, and we demonstrate that recombinant proteins could be effective and sustainable molecules for functionalisation of BC materials.

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