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Title: Charge-associated effects of fullerene derivatives on microbialstructural integrity and central metabolism

Journal Article · · Nano Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/nl063020t· OSTI ID:910593

The effects of four types of fullerene compounds (C60,C60-OH, C60-COOH, C60-NH2) were examined on two model microorganisms(Escherichia coli W3110 and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1). Positivelycharged C60-NH2 at concentrations as low as 10 mg/L inhibited growth andreduced substrate uptake for both microorganisms. Scanning ElectronMicroscopy (SEM) revealed damage to cellular structures.Neutrally-charged C60 and C60-OH had mild negative effects on S.oneidensis MR-1, whereas the negatively-charged C60-COOH did not affecteither microorganism s growth. The effect of fullerene compounds onglobal metabolism was further investigated using [3-13C]L-lactateisotopic labeling, which tracks perturbations to metabolic reaction ratesin bacteria by examining the change in the isotopic labeling pattern inthe resulting metabolites (often amino acids).1-3 The 13C isotopomeranalysis from all fullerene-exposed cultures revealed no significantdifferences in isotopomer distributions from unstressed cells. Thisresult indicates that microbial central metabolism is robust toenvironmental stress inflicted by fullerene nanoparticles. In addition,although C60-NH2 compounds caused mechanical stress on the cell wall ormembrane, both S. oneidensis MR-1 and E. coli W3110 can efficientlyalleviate such stress by cell aggregation and precipitation of the toxicnanoparticles. The results presented here favor the hypothesis thatfullerenes cause more membrane stress4, 5, 6 than perturbation to energymetabolism7

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Director. Office of Science. Office of AdvancedScientific Computing Research. Office of Biological and EnvironmentalResearch; National Institutes of Health Grant R21CA95393-01, USDepartment of Defense Grant BC045345, Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency Grant F1ATA05252M001
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
910593
Report Number(s):
LBNL-62349; R&D Project: GTL2KK; BnR: KP1102010; TRN: US200724%%266
Journal Information:
Nano Letters, Vol. 7, Issue 3; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: 2007
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English