Environmentally friendly antibiofilm strategy based on cationized phytoglycogen nanoparticles

Biofilm tolerance to antibiotics has led to the search for new alternatives in treating biofilms. The use of metallic nanoparticles has been a suggested strategy against biofilms, but their potential environmental toxicity and high cost of synthesizing have limited their applications. In this study, we investigate the potential of polysaccharidic phytoglycogen nanoparticles extracted from corn, in treating cyanobacterial biofilms, which are the source of toxins and pollution in aquatic environments. Our results revealed that the surface of cyanobacterial cells was dominated by the negatively charged functional groups such as carboxylic and phosphoric groups. The native phytoglycogen (PhX) nanoparticles were dominated with non-charged groups, such as hydroxyl groups, and the cationized phytoglycogen (PhXC) nanoparticles showed positively charged surfaces due to the presence of quaternary ammonium cations. Our results indicated that, as opposed to PhX, PhXC strongly inhibited biofilm formation when dispersed in the culture medium. PhXC also eradicated the already grown cyanobacterial biofilms. The antibiofilm properties of PhXC were attributed to its strong electrostatic interactions with the cyanobacterial cells, which could inhibit cell/cell and cell/substrate interactions and nutrient exchange with the media. This class of antibacterial polysaccharide nanoparticles may provide a novel cost-effective and environment-friendly strategy for treating biofilm formation by a broad spectrum of bacteria.