Skip to main content
. 2023 Jul 21;9(29):eadg5858. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg5858

Fig. 3. Biomineralization occurs in the periplasm, and the nanoclusters are metastable.

Fig. 3.

(A) Cross-sectional STEM images showing that the aggregates are predominantly located between the IM and OM. Scale bar, 500 nm. (B) STEM image and EDS maps confirming the Cd and S composition for the aggregates. Scale bar, 100 nm. (C) Zoom-in STEM images and SAED showing that the aggregates display low crystallinity and are nanoclusters. Scale bars, 30 nm and 3 nm. (D) STEM image and SAED of the minerals (with TEM) after cell lysis and particle extraction, showing smaller particle sizes and improved crystallinity. Scale bar, 3 nm. (E) Bright-field and fluorescence optical microscopy images of the biohybrids (excitation wavelength, 488 nm). Scale bars, 20 μm. (F) Ultraviolet-induced microspectrofluorometry spectra showing that the bacteria with CdS nanoclusters have defect-dominant fluorescent properties with a broad emission peak. (G) A schematic showing the transformation of low-crystallinity nanoclusters to high-crystallinity nanoparticles upon periplasmic material removal, suggesting the metastable nature of the biomineralized nanoclusters. a.u. arbitrary units.