ng- Li

Response of anaerobic granular sludge to single-wall carbon nanotube exposure

Rapid development and application of nanotechnology have introduced various nanopaticles, such as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), whose negative effects on aquatic organisms and cultured cells have been reported, into anaerobic wastewater treatment systems. In this study, the response of methanogenic sludge exposed to SWCNTs in anaerobic digestion process was investigated. Results show that SWCNTs, at a concentration up to 1000 mg/L, had no significant impact on the maximum methane yield. In contrast, they induced much faster substrate utilization and methane production rates. Scanning electron microscopy examination shows that more extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were excreted from the anaerobic sludge and closely interacted with SWCNTs. Such an interaction prevented nanoparticles from piercing into cells, and thus reduced their cytotoxicity. In the compact anaerobic granule structure, SWCNTs exposure enhanced the electrical conductance of the sludge, which might promote direct interspecies electron transfer among anaerobic fermentative bacteria and methanogens in the anaerobic digestion process. Our results provide useful information to understand the response of anaerobic microorganisms to CNTs in complex environmental matrix.

Toxic effects of imidazolium-based ionic liquids on Caenorhabditis elegans: The role of reactive oxygen species

By using Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a model animal, the present work is aimed to evaluate the acute toxicity of imidazolium-based bromide Ionic Liquids (ILs), and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved. Firstly, 24-h median lethal concentration (LC50) for eight ILs with different alkyl chain lengths and one or two methyl groups in the imidazolium ring were determined to be in a range of 0.09-6.64 mg mL(-1). Four ILs were selected to investigate the toxic mechanisms. Mortality, levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipofuscin accumulation and expression of superoxide dismutase 3 in C. elegans were determined after exposed to ILs at sub-lethal concentrations for 12h. A significant increase in the levels of these biomarkers was observed in accordance with the results of 12-h lethality assay. The addition of 0.5% dimethyl sulfoxide, which acts as a radical scavenger, remarkably rescued the lethality of C. elegans and significantly decreased the ROS level in C. elegans. Our results suggest that ROS play an important role in IL-induced toxicity in C. elegans.

In vivo synthesis of nano-selenium by Tetrahymena thermophila SB210

Nano-selenium has a great potential to be used in chemical, biological, medical and environmental fields. Biological methods for nano-selenium synthesis have attracted wide interests, because they can be operated at ambient temperature and pressure without complicated equipments. In this work, a protozoa, Tetrahymena thermophila (T. thermophila) SB210, was used to in vivo synthesize nano-selenium. The biosynthesized nano-selenium was characterized using transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The synthesized amorphous spherical selenium nanoparticles had diameters of 50-500nm with the coexistence of irregular nano-selenium. The expressions of glutathione (GSH) synthesis related gene glutathione synthase, cysteine-rich protein metallothionein related gene metallothionein-1 and [2Fe-2S] cluster-binding protein related gene were up-regulated in the nano-selenium producing group. Also, the subsequent GSH detection and in vitro synthesis experimental results suggest the three proteins were likely to be involved in the nano-selenium synthesis process.

Morphology-dependent antimicrobial activity of Cu/CuxO nanoparticles

Cu/CuxO nanoparticles (NPs) with different morphologies have been synthesized with glucose as a reducing agent. The X-ray diffraction and Scanning electron microscopy imaging show that the Cu/CuxO NPs have fine crystalline peaks with homogeneous polyhedral, flower-like, and thumbtack-like morphologies. Their antimicrobial activities were evaluated on inactivation of Escherichia coli using a fluorescence-based live/dead staining method. Dissolution of copper ions from these NPs was determined. Results demonstrated a significant growth inhibition for these NPs with different morphologies, and the flower-like Cu/CuxO NPs were the most effective form, where more copper ions were dissolved into the culture media. Surface free energy calculations based on first-principle density functional theory show that different crystal facets of the copper NPs have diverse surface energy, indicating the highest reactivity of the flower-like NPs, which is consistent with the results from the dissolution study and antimicrobial activity test. Together, these results suggest that the difference between the surface free energy may be a cause for their morphology-dependent antimicrobial activity.

Roles of glutathione and L-cysteine in the biomimetic green synthesis of CdSe quantum dots

Biological synthesis of quantum dots (QDs) as an environmental-friendly and facile preparation method has attracted increasing interests. However, it is difficult to distinguish the roles of bio-thiols in QDs synthesis process because of the complex nature in organisms. In this work, the CdSe QDs synthesis conditions in organisms were reconstructed by using a simplified in vitro approach to uncover the roles of two small bio-thiols in the QDs formation. CdSe QDs were synthesized with glutathione (GSH) and L-cysteine (Cys) respectively. Compared with Cys at the same molar concentration, the CdSe QDs synthesized by GSH had a larger and broader particle size distribution with improved optical properties and crystal structure. Furthermore, quantum chemical calculations indicate that the stronger Cd2+ binding capacity of GSH contributed a lot to the CdSe QDs formation despite of the greater capability Cys for selenite reduction. This work clearly demonstrates the different roles of small thiols in the Cd2+ stabilization in the environment and biomimetic QDs synthesis process.

Fluorescence dynamics of the biosynthesized CdSe quantum dots in Candida utilis.

Organisms served as factories of bio-assembly of nanoparticles attracted a lot of attentions due to the safe, economic and environmental-benignity traits, especially the fabrication of the super fluorescence properties quantum dots (QDs). However, information about the developmental dynamics of QDs in living organisms is still lacking. In this work, we synthesized cadmium-selenium (CdSe) QDs in Candida utilis WSH02-08, and then tracked and quantitatively characterized the developmental dynamics (photoactivation, photostable and photobleaching processes) of bio-QDs by translating fluorescence microscopy movies into visual quantitative curve. These findings shed light on the fluorescence properties of the bio-assembled QDs and are expected to accelerate the applications of the synthesized QDs in vivo. It provided a new way to screen bio-QDs and monitor the quality of QDs in vivo.