Abstract The soluble fraction of bacterial lysates containing repeat units of a metal binding domain (Pd4) fused to the carrier protein Green Fluorescent Protein (GFPuv) was used to direct palladium nanoparticle synthesis on the order of 2 nm. Characterization confirmed the synthesis of highly ordered materials, as evident by microscopy and elemental analysis, demonstrating the fact that crude bacterial lysates containing fusion peptides may be used in lieu of expensive, pure peptide.