Few-Layer Black Phosphorus as an Artificial Substrate for DNA Replication

DNA replication is the basis for biological inheritance in nature. The plasma membrane of prokaryotic bacteria might provide a supporting surface for the attachment of either polymerase or DNA during in vivo DNA replication. In order to understand that fixing DNA or polymerase on the membrane is important for highly efficient DNA replication, we develop a system to mimic prokaryotic DNA replication. We introduce a two-dimensional nanomaterial, few-layer black phosphorus (BP), which shares some similar properties with bacteria plasma membrane in dimension, surface group, surface charge, hydrophilicity, and thickness. Either polymerase or DNA primer is immobilized on a BP surface to initiate in vitro DNA replication. The results show that BP could promote DNA replication with high efficiency in both cases. The DNA yield is increased to more than 6 times and nonspecific products are reduced significantly. This discovery might deepen our understanding about the role of immobilization of the replication component on the membrane and application of BP as an artificial substrate for DNA replication.