ORCID Profile
0000-0002-9254-0041
Current Organisation
University of Aberdeen
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Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 19-06-2015
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1039/C4RA10930A
Abstract: Ionic liquids enable solvent optimization for different biofilms through solubility parameter concept.
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP50437A
Abstract: It is important to tailor biotic-abiotic interfaces in order to maximize the utility of bioelectronic devices such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs), electrochemical sensors and bioelectrosynthetic systems. The efficiency of electron-equivalent extraction (or injection) across such biotic-abiotic interfaces is dependent on the choice of the microbe and the conductive electrode material. In this contribution, we show that spontaneous intercalation of a conjugated oligoelectrolyte, namely 4,4'-bis(4'-(N,N-bis(6''-(N,N,N-trimethylammonium)hexyl)amino)-styryl)stilbene tetraiodide (DSSN+), into the membranes of Escherichia coli leads to an increase in current generation in MFCs containing carbon-based electrodes. A combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy was employed to confirm the incorporation of DSSN+ into the cell membrane and biofilm formation atop carbon felt electrodes. Current collection was enhanced by more than 300% with addition of this conjugated oligoelectrolyte. The effect of DSSN+ concentration on electrical output was also investigated. Higher concentrations, up to 25 μM, lead to an overall increase in the number of charge equivalents transferred to the charge-collecting electrode, providing evidence in support of the central role of the synthetic system in improving device performance.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 28-02-2014
DOI: 10.1021/LA403409T
Abstract: Certain conjugated oligoelectrolytes (COEs) modify biological function by improving charge transfer across biological membranes as demonstrated by their ability to boost performance in bioelectrochemical systems. Molecular level understanding of the nature of the COE/membrane interactions is lacking. Thus, we investigated cell membrane perturbation by three COEs differing in the number of aromatic rings and presence of a fluorine substitution. Molecular dynamic simulations showed that membrane deformation by all COEs resulted from membrane thinning as the lipid phosphate heads were drawn toward the center of the bilayer layer by positively charged COE side chains. The four-ringed COE, which most closely resembled the lipid bilayer in length, deformed the membrane the least and was least disruptive, as supported by toxicity testing (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 64 μmol L(-1)) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Extensive membrane thinning was observed from three-ringed COEs, reducing membrane thickness to <3.0 nm in regions where the COEs were located. Severe localized membrane pitting was observed when the central aromatic ring was unfluorinated, as evident from AFM and simulations. Fluorinating the central aromatic ring delocalized thinning but induced greater membrane disorder, indicated by changes in deuterium order parameter of the acyl chains. The fluorinated three-ringed compound was less toxic (MIC 4 μmol L(-1)) than the nonfluorinated three-aromatic-ringed COE (MIC 2 μmol L(-1)) thus, hydrophobic polar interactions resulting from fluorine substitution of OPV COEs dissipate membrane perturbations. Correlating specific structural features with cell membrane perturbation is an important step toward designing non-antimicrobial membrane insertion molecules.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2020
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08590F
Abstract: Voltammetric analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth cultures unveils the interplay between PQS and phenazines under a potential bias.
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1039/C9CP01469A
Abstract: Elucidating butanol interactions with lipid bilayers will inform membrane engineering approaches for improving butanol tolerance in industrial fermentations.
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1039/C7RA11823F
Abstract: COEs are emerging antimicrobials to combat drug resistant infections and to which bacteria develop only limited resistance.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-09-2015
Abstract: Butanol is an ideal biofuel, although poor titers lead to high recovery costs by distillation. Fluidization of microbial membranes by butanol is one of the major factors limiting titers in butanol-producing bioprocesses. Starting with the hypothesis that certain membrane insertion molecules would stabilize the lipid bilayer in the presence of butanol, we applied a combination of in vivo and in vitro techniques within an in silico framework to describe a new approach to achieve solvent tolerance in bacteria. Single-molecule tracking of a model supported bilayer showed that COE1-5C, a five-ringed oligo-polyphenylenevinylene conjugated oligoelectrolyte (COE), reduced the diffusion rate of phospholipids in a microbially derived lipid bilayer to a greater extent than three-ringed and four-ringed COEs. Furthermore, COE1-5C treatment increased the specific growth rate of E. coli K12 relative to a control at inhibitory butanol concentrations. Consequently, to confer butanol tolerance to microbes by exogenous means is complementary to genetic modification of strains in industrial bioprocesses, extends the physiological range of microbes to match favorable bioprocess conditions, and is amenable with complex and undefined microbial consortia for biobutanol production. Molecular dynamics simulations indicated that the π-conjugated aromatic backbone of COE1-5C likely acts as a hydrophobic tether for glycerophospholipid acyl chains by enhancing bilayer integrity in the presence of high butanol concentrations, which thereby counters membrane fluidization. COE1-5C-mitigated E. coli K12 membrane depolarization by butanol is consistent with the hypothesis that improved growth rates in the presence of butanol are a consequence of improved bilayer stability.
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1039/D0EN00983K
Abstract: The nano-aggregation of carotenoids in microbial membranes increases membrane stability upon butanol exposure by reducing the fluidization effect and membrane permeability of butanol.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-12-2022
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Jamie Hinks.