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Toxicity mechanism of cerium oxide nanoparticles on cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and their ecological risks

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Abstract

The extensive application of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs), a type of rare earth nanomaterial, led to pollution into aquatic environments. Cyanobacteria, a significant component of freshwater ecosystems, can interact with CeO2 NPs. However, little attention has been paid as to whether CeO2 NPs will have adverse effects on cyanobacteria. In the present study, Microcystis aeruginosa (FACHB-942) was exposed to different concentrations (0, 1, 10, and 50 mg/L) of CeO2 NPs. Results showed 50 mg/L CeO2 NPs inhibited algal growth (11.48% ± 5.76%), suppressed photosynthesis and induced the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after 72 h exposure. The toxicity mechanism is the adsorption of CeO2 NPs on cell surface, the ROS formation and the intracellular Ce. Additionally, the intracellular microcystins (MCs) content was significantly induced (11.84% ± 1.47%) by 50 mg/L CeO2 NPs, while no significance was found in 1 and 10 mg/L CeO2 NP treatments. Results indicated high concentrations of CeO2 NPs could be toxic to algae through the adverse effects on algal growth and photosynthesis. Moreover, the promoted MCs production could also pose a threat to freshwater ecosystems due to the possible release into the environment.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Department of Ecology and Environment of Jiangsu Province of China (TH2019403) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20161404).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Di Wu, Juanjuan Zhang, Ying Yin & Hongyan Guo

  2. School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Wenchao Du

  3. Joint International Research Centre for Critical Zone Science, University of Leeds and Nanjing University, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Ying Yin & Hongyan Guo

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  1. Di Wu
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  2. Juanjuan Zhang
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  3. Wenchao Du
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  4. Ying Yin
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  5. Hongyan Guo
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Contributions

Di Wu: formal analysis, writing—original draft. Juanjuan Zhang: analysis, investigation. Wenchao Du: data curation. Ying Yin: conceptualization, writing—review and editing. Hongyan Guo: resources, supervision, project administration.

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Correspondence to Ying Yin.

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Wu, D., Zhang, J., Du, W. et al. Toxicity mechanism of cerium oxide nanoparticles on cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and their ecological risks. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 34010–34018 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18090-1

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