Antimicrobial properties of CuO nanorods and multi-armed nanoparticles against B. anthracis vegetative cells and endospores

• Pratibha Pandey,
• Merwyn S. Packiyaraj,
• Himangini Nigam,
• Gauri S. Agarwal,
• Beer Singh and
• Manoj K. Patra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 789–800, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.91

• : Bacillus anthracis; bactericidal nanoparticles; copper oxide; nanoparticles; spore inactivation; Introduction B. anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax is a gram-positive, rod shaped, spore forming bacterium with 1 to 8 µm length and 1 to 1.5 µm width [1]. Its very high lethality (LD50 is 2,500 to

• untreated spores (Figure 8c). Unlike during the prior incubation in growth media, this cellular structure did not form when bactericidal nanoparticles were present in growth medium. These soft and pliable spores could most probably be germinated spores, which are susceptible to the bactericidal activity of