NATURAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES Synthesis of silica nanoparticles doped with zinc cation for the removal of bacteria DNA harboring antibiotic resistance genes from aqueous solution 1,2 1,2 1,2 1,2 Adaora S. Ezeuko , Eric T. Anthony , Mike O. Ojemaye Omobola O. Okoh , *2 and Anthony I. Okoh . 1 Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa. 2 SAMRC, Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa. Corresponding Author: [email protected] Abstract: This study investigated the removal of bacterial DNA from aqueous solution using silica oxide nanoparticles doped with zinc cation (SiO 2+ 2@Zn ). The authenticity of the adsorbent was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Adsorption studies involving two operating conditions (time-concentration profile and adsorbent dose) showed increased removal efficiency during the adsorption of bacterial DNA by SiO 2+ 2+ @Zn . We conclude that SiO @Zn may be a promising 2 2 adsorbent that can tackle the consequences of ARGs infected water. 1.0. Introduction The gain in the fight against bacterial infection has been short-lived due to the development and subsequent proliferation of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) (Le et al., 2018). ARGs render antibiotics ineffective in the treatment of bacterial infections. Water bodies are one of the most important routes for the spread of ARGs. Thus, abundant ARGs have been detected in freshwater, surface water, drinking water, and wastewater (Zhang et al., 2009). While the presence of Professor Anthony I. Okoh naturally occurring minerals enhances the spread of ARGs in fresh and surface water, the hotspot for the enrichment of ARGs has been wastewater, incredibly wastewater rich in antibiotics (Ezeuko et al., 2021b). In the quest to combat the proliferation of ARGs in water bodies, adsorption technology has been proposed as a cost-effective technique for the removal of ARGs (Eric et al., 2021), and the application of metallic oxides has been applied for this purpose (Ezeuko et al., 2021a). In adsorption technology, the specific surface area as well as physical and chemical affinities of the adsorbent towards the adsorbate are essential criteria of an adsorbent (Song et al., 1998). Metal oxide nanoparticles possesses a large specific surface area (Chew et al., 2010) and has been used as an adsorbent to remove organic and inorganic pollutants (Ojemaye et al., 2017; Ojemaye & Okoh, 2019). ZnO is a typical adsorbent used to combat the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria-harboring ARGs due to their bacteriostatic tendencies (Eric et al., 2022). In lieu, in this study, mesoporous silica nanoparticles doped with zinc cation (SiO 2+ 2@Zn ) were synthesized via the combustion protocol and used to remove bacterial DNA harboring ARGs, free-cell DNA of Listeria monocytegene present in aqueous solution. 21 | University of Fort Hare