Discovery and application of the Yoshida effect: nano-sized acicular materials enable penetration of bacterial cells by sliding friction force

Our plain-English summary of Discovery and application of the Yoshida effect: nano-sized acicular materials enable penetration of bacterial cells by sliding friction force, by N. Yoshida (Recent Patents on Biotechnology, 2007).

The study

• Author: N. Yoshida
• Journal: Recent Patents on Biotechnology
• Published: 2007;1(3):194-201
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 15 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Bacterial genetic properties can be readily altered by a range of techniques, for example, when a mixture of recipient bacteria, donor genes, and nano-sized acicular material are stimulated by sliding friction on surface of the hydrogel such as agarose or gellan gum. In this particular case, a phenomenon called the Yoshida effect is responsible. Specially designed apparatus has been developed to investigate this effect in an effort to identify technical applications, such as the quantitative detection of asbestos. Current patents related to plasmid transformation methods for prokaryotes and quantitative detection of environmental asbestos are also presented.

In plain English

This was a review by the author describing the "Yoshida effect" and the patents connected with it. In the Yoshida effect, a colloidal mixture of bacteria, plasmid DNA and nano-sized acicular (needle-shaped) material is rubbed across a hydrogel surface ("hydrogel exposure"), and sliding friction drives the fibre aggregates into the bacterial cells. The author stated that the effect had been confirmed with multi-walled carbon nanotubes, maghemite, chrysotile and sepiolite of 10-50 nm diameter. In the transformation experiments described, chrysotile, crocidolite and sepiolite carried plasmid DNA into Escherichia coli, while kaolinite, bentonite and talc did not; glass wool and rock wool, of 1-2 micrometre diameter, could not be tested. Chrysotile particles greater than 5 and smaller than 10 micrometres were reported to be needed for transformation, and only DNA bound to chrysotile was taken up. For measurement of asbestos, the number of E. coli transformants correlated with crocidolite concentration (40 to 1000 ng/ml, and 0.15-15 mg of crocidolite per 1.0 g of sea sand). The author concluded that a quantitative detection method for environmental asbestos based on the Yoshida effect is under development.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Review article summarising the author's experimental work on the Yoshida effect and related patents
• Who was studied: Laboratory bacteria and mineral preparations: Escherichia coli (strains including DH5 and C600), Pseudomonas sp., Klebsiella aerogenes W70 and Bacillus subtilis ISW1214, plus colloidal solutions of minerals and crocidolite-sea sand mixtures
• Exposure: Nano-sized acicular materials under sliding friction: the effect was stated to be confirmed with multi-walled carbon nanotubes, maghemite, chrysotile and sepiolite; transformation experiments used chrysotile, crocidolite and sepiolite, compared with kaolinite, bentonite, talc, glass wool and rock wool
• Main results:
  • Transformation of E. coli occurred only with plasmid DNA bound to chrysotile; 1.6 x 10(6) transformants were obtained after hydrogel exposure whether free or chrysotile-bound plasmid was added
  • Chrysotile filtered through a 10-30 micrometre mesh gave 10(6) transformants per microgram of pUC18 DNA, while chrysotile filtered through a 0.2-5.0 micrometre mesh gave none, indicating particles greater than 5 and smaller than 10 micrometres were needed
  • Among the non-asbestos minerals tested, kaolinite, bentonite and talc did not mediate E. coli transformation; the author states only asbestos species such as chrysotile and crocidolite did
  • Transformation could not be examined with glass wool and rock wool, whose diameter (1-2 micrometres) is larger than that of chrysotile
  • The number of E. coli transformants correlated with crocidolite concentration between 40 and 1000 ng/ml
  • In sea sand containing 0.15-15 mg of crocidolite per 1.0 g, the number of transformants correlated with crocidolite quantity, described by y=33.75x+14.34 (y transformants cfu/plate, x crocidolite mg/g); crocidolite and chrysotile gave the same transformation efficiency
  • With 2% agar hydrogel and 60 seconds of exposure, 1.4 x 10(4) transformants were obtained versus 3.8 x 10(3) with 1.5% agar
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that plasmid incorporation into bacteria based on the Yoshida effect is a novel transformation method applicable to Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and that a quantitative detection method for environmental asbestos based on the effect is under development and should be standardised
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author states the asbestos estimation method does not work below 100 micrograms per gram
  • Gene introduction could not be tested with glass wool and rock wool

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Chrysotile.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Discovery, Acicular.

Related studies

• Plasmid DNA is released from nanosized acicular material surface by low molecular weight oligonucleotides: exogenous plasmid acquisition mechanism for penetration intermediates based on the Yoshida effect — N. Yoshida, K. Ide (2008)
• Chestnut bur-shaped aggregates of chrysotile particles enable inoculation of Escherichia coli cells with plasmid DNA — N. Yoshida, Y. Saeki (2004)
• Quantitative detection of asbestos fiber in gravelly sand using elastic body-exposure method — N. Yoshida, K. Takebe (2006)
• Escherichia coli cells penetrated by chrysotile fibers are transformed to antibiotic resistance by incorporation of exogenous plasmid DNA — N. Yoshida, K. Kodama, et al. (2002)
• Earthquakes promote bacterial genetic exchange in serpentinite crevices — N. Yoshida, N. Fujiura (2009)
• Chrysotile asbestos fibers mediate transformation of Escherichia coli by exogenous plasmid DNA — N. Yoshida, T. Ikeda, et al. (2001)

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