Synthesis of biomimetic cell wall structure

A method of generating a biomimetic cell wall (BCW) structure on a surface comprising generating polymerized oligonucleotide structures comprising at least two side groups linked to a molecule for crosslinking on the surface and crosslinking the molecule-linked side groups of the polymerized oligonucleotide structures, wherein the method of generating the polymerized oligonucleotide structures on the surface comprises the steps of:

• a) contacting a surface with a first initiator oligonucleotide molecule (DI), wherein the initiator oligonucleotide molecule comprises an oligonucleotide region which is not bound to the surface and a binding region which becomes bound to the surface;
• b) contacting the DI-bound surface with a first DNA monomer (DM), wherein the first DM comprises an oligonucleotide sequence complementary to a region of the DI and further comprises an oligonucleotide sequence that is not complementary to the DI, such that a portion of the DM hybridizes to the DI and a portion of the DM does not hybridize to the DI;
• and
• c) contacting the DI and the first DM-bound surface with a second DNA monomer (DM), wherein the second DM comprises an oligonucleotide sequence complementary to the region of the first DM which is not complementary to the DI and further comprises an oligonucleotide sequence that is identical to a nucleotide sequence of the DI, such that a portion of the second DM hybridizes to the first DM and a portion of the second DM serves as a DI to initiate a next round of hybridization;
• and wherein at least one of the first DM and the second DM is further linked to the molecule for crosslinking at the side group to form the polymerized oligonucleotide structure, providing that the linked molecule for crosslinking is conjugated to at least one of the second DM.