Impact of Fullerene (C60) on a Soil Microbial Community

Abstract

The nascent state of the nanoproduct industry calls for important early assessment of environmental impacts before significant releases have occurred. Clearly, the impact of manufactured nanomaterials on key soil processes must be addressed so that an unbiased discussion concerning the environmental consequences of nanotechnology can take place. In this study, soils were treated with either 1 μg C60 g-1 soil in aqueous suspension (nC60) or 1000 μg C60 g-1 soil in granular form, a control containing equivalent tetrahydrofuran residues as generated during nC60 formation process or water and incubated for up to 180 days. Treatment effects on soil respiration, both basal and glucose-induced, were evaluated. The effects on the soil microbial community size was evaluated using total phospholipid derived phosphate. The impact on community structure was evaluated using both fatty acid profiles and following extraction of total genomic DNA, by DGGE after PCR amplification of total genomic DNA using bacterial variable V3 region targeted primers. In addition, treatment affects on soil enzymatic activities for β-glucosidase, acid-phosphatase, dehydrogenase, and urease were followed. Our observations show that the introduction of fullerene, as either C60 or nC60, has little impact on the structure and function of the soil microbial community and microbial processes.

Soybean susceptibility to manufactured nanomaterials with evidence for food quality and soil fertility interruption

“…Previous soil-grown soybean studies regarded metal salts (33,35), but studies examining plant-MNM interactions generally used aqueous exposure systems (24,(36)(37)(38). There has been contradictory evidence from studying soil microbial communities, i.e., that some MNMs are not bioavailable in soil (39), but also evidence to the contrary for other MNMs (25). Although insight into plant responses to metals and/or MNMs can be gained from hydroponic studies, and MNM impacts on soil microbial communities imply MNM bioavailability, such piecemeal evidence is inadequate to infer how MNMs will impact crops grown in MNM-contaminated soils.…”

Microbial mediation of biogeochemical cycles revealed by simulation of global changes with soil transplant and cropping

“…DGGE was performed to determine the composition of the soil microbial communities, using a method described previously with some modifications (Tong et al, 2007). Briefly, soil DNA was extracted using the FastDNA Spin Kit for Soil (MP Biomedicals, Santa Ana, CA, USA), and the V3 region of 16S ribosomal DNA was amplified using the primers F338 (5 0 -ACT CCT ACG GGA GGC AGC AG-3 0 ) and R534 (5 0 -ATT ACC GCG GCT GCT GG-3 0 ).…”

A method for determination of retention of silver and cerium oxide manufactured nanoparticles in soils

“…[4] To estimate the potential exposure of organisms to MNP suspended in porewaters, the major exposure pathway in soil systems to organisms is required. [9] This requires knowledge of the retention of MNP in soils, which is the ensemble of timedependent aggregation of MNP with other MNP and naturally occurring colloids and deposition on mineral surfaces that are all likely to determine the available fraction of MNP and thus their potential risk in soil environments. It is increasingly becoming relevant to have knowledge of the retention of MNP in soils, because of the vast array of consumer products being introduced into the market containing many different types of MNP and the ever-increasing risk of exposure of soils to MNP.…”