Generation and design of bifunctional bacteriophages and peptides: integrating organics and inorganics into multifunctional materials

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The demand for inorganic functional materials has strongly increased over the last couple of years, with the focus now on multifunctional composite materials of different characteristics. However, the production of nanomaterials due to technical difficulties combined with the requirements for the fusion of several properties through material assembly by conventional synthesis methods is limited. The use of biomineralization to process the next generation of materials provides an innovative solution to overcome the limitations of traditional processing methods.In the proposed project it is planned to generate bioorganic-inorganic materials with electrical conductivity and thermal properties (e.g. capacitors and piezoelectrical elements). In our part we will genetically engineer bifunctional bacteriophages and peptides as scaffolds for constructing and organizing these material components. Peptides which can specifically recognize and initiate a controlled mineralization of an inorganic phase with precursor salt solutions will be identified from phage libraries and employed. Using an integrated approach based on biotechnology and bioinformatics, the molecular mechanism of peptide recognition of and binding to inorganic materials will be investigated and peptides with improved affinity and specificity will be designed.The combination of selected and engineered peptides, either as fusion proteins displayed on the phage surface or as bifunctional peptides, will facilitate the synthesis of complex multifunctional composite materials.