In this paper, a microorganism-mediated, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-directed (MCD) aggregation of Au nanostructures around Escherichia coli cells (ECCs) for enhanced Au recovery, from aqueous HAuCl4 is demonstrated for the first time. Owing to the coordination of cell-CTAB-ascorbic acid (AA), one dimensional Au nanostructures grew around the ECCs, inducing the rapid aggregation of Au and the ECCs. The concentrations of CfAB and AA had insignificant effect on the precipitation if the ECC dosage and HAuCl4, concentration were matched. The Au recovery efficiency decreased with increasing CTAB concentration, while a minimum AA concentration was required for higher Au recovery efficiency. The ECC-binding Au ions were reduced to form Au nuclei over the cell surface that provided preferential nucleation sites. Meanwhile, the free ligand-substituted anions in the solution were reduced to Au atoms that served as Au source for growing the Au nanostructures around the ECCs. This work exemplifies a new avenue to enhance the efficiency of recovering Au through the engineering of Au nanostructures. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.