Effects of Exogenous N -Acyl-Homoserine Lactone as Signal Molecule on Nitrosomonas Europaea under ZnO Nanoparticle Stress

Junkang Wu, Huan Gao, Jinyu Ye, Yan Chang, Ran Yu, Zhen Ding and Guangcan Zhu
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Junkang Wu: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China
Huan Gao: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China
Jinyu Ye: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China
Yan Chang: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China
Ran Yu: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China
Zhen Ding: Jiangsu Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China
Guangcan Zhu: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-11

Abstract: Despite the adverse effects of emerging ZnO nanoparticles (nano-ZnO) on wastewater biological nitrogen removal (BNR) systems being widely documented, strategies for mitigating nanoparticle (NP) toxicity impacts on nitrogen removal have not been adequately addressed. Herein, N -acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)-based quorum sensing (QS) was investigated for its effects against nano-ZnO toxicity to a model nitrifier, Nitrosomonas europaea . The results indicated that AHL-attenuated nano-ZnO toxicity, which was inversely correlated with the increasing dosage of AHL from 0.01 to 1 µM. At 0.01 µM, AHL notably enhanced the tolerance of N. europaea cells to nano-ZnO stress, and the inhibited cell proliferation, membrane integrity, ammonia oxidation rate, ammonia monooxygenase activity and amoA gene expression significantly increased by 18.2 ± 2.1, 2.4 ± 0.9, 58.7 ± 7.1, 32.3 ± 1.7, and 7.3 ± 5.9%, respectively, after 6 h of incubation. However, increasing the AHL dosage compromised the QS-mediated effects and even aggravated the NPs’ toxicity effects. Moreover, AHLs, at all tested concentrations, significantly increased superoxide dismutase activity, indicating the potential of QS regulations to enhance cellular anti-oxidative stress capacities when facing NP invasion. These results provide novel insights into the development of QS regulation strategies to reduce the impact of nanotoxicity on BNR systems.

Keywords: ZnO nanoparticle; Nitrosomonas europaea; quorum sensing; stress tolerance; acyl-homoserine lactone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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