Open AccessMechanisms of oxide copper nanoparticles toxicity to microorganisms and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and recommendations for future study
Author(s) -
Fan Ouyang,
Dan Peng,
Dantong Liu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/474/2/022021
Subject(s) - oxidizing agent , toxicity , dissolution , bacteria , nanoparticle , chemistry , biomolecule , microorganism , copper , copper toxicity , environmental chemistry , materials science , nanotechnology , biochemistry , biology , organic chemistry , genetics
In recent years, the biological toxicity of oxide copper nanoparticles (CuO NPs) to microorganisms has received some attentions. The toxicity mechanism of CuO NPs can be concluded as follows: (1) CuO NPs facilitate more rapid dissolution of ions than equivalent bulk material, which potentially leading to increased toxicity of CuO NPs; (2) CuO NPs can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), and potentially disturb the functioning of protein, enzymes and DNA; (3) CuO NPs have high capacity to adsorb biomolecules and interact with biological receptors, they can reach sub-cellular locations leading to potentially higher localized concentrations of ions once those particles start to dissolve or degrade in situ. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are the main functional bacteria for biological nitrogen removal in the environment. It has been reported that CuO NPs can change the community structures of AOB, however, the toxicity mechanism of CuO NPs to AOB in cytological level is rarely reported. This review aims to evaluate the current understanding of CuO NPs toxicity to microorganisms, as well as to provide a set of pointers and guidelines for future studies to access the toxicity mechanism of CuO NPs to AOB.