Bacterial surface layers proteins: self-organizing biomolecules as building blocks for nanostructured materials

Surface layer proteins (S-layers) form the outer sheet around the cells of many primitive microorganisms. They form two-dimensional paracrystalline arrays with repeating units on the scale of a few nanometers (10-9 m). We have established their utilization as a technology platform for innovative materials. The S-layer of Lysinibacillus sphaericus JG-A12 isolated from a uranium waste pile has been shown to exhibit highly ordered binding sites for various metals such as Pt, Pd, Au, suitable for the formation of regularly distributed nanoclusters of defined sizes. Such bioinorganic materials possess a great potential for the development of novel catalysts, new biomedical and bio¬analytical applications, the assembly of nanometer-scaled electronic devices, optical industry, and storage media. At the Institutes of Radiation Physics, Ion-beam Physics and Materials Research, and the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the structure of such nanoparticles and their physical properties are currently analyzed in an interdisciplinary approach.