Gajardo Roberto, Rubilar Olga, López-Mena Edgar, Sanchez-Ante Gildardo, Fincheira Paola, Martinez Miguel, Schoebitz Mauricio, Tighe-Neira Ricardo, Inostroza-Blancheteau Claudio, Bardelhe Leonardo, Tortella-Fuentes Gonzalo
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070386, Chile.
Chemical Engineering Department, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4780000, Chile.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jul 2;26(13):6391. doi: 10.3390/ijms26136391.
Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) are increasingly used in agriculture either alone or in combination with pesticides. Recognizing the potential hazards of CuNPs in soil environments, our study evaluated their effects on the metabolic activity of ATCC 2539, a chemolithoautotrophic bacterium crucial for the nitrification process, which involves the oxidation of nitrite to nitrate in soil ecosystems. This study evaluated the effects of concentration ranges of CuNPs (2.5 to 162.7 mg L), CuONPs (3.2 to 203.6 mg L), and various pesticides (iprodione, carbendazim, and 2,4-D) and their derivatives (3,5-dichloroaniline, catechol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol) at concentrations ranging from 0.04 to 2.56 mM. CuSO was also used as a control for comparative purposes. Our findings indicated that the CuNPs significantly inhibited the metabolic activity of , resulting in a reduction of up to 95% at concentrations of ≥2.5 mg L. The CuONPs were less toxic, while the pesticides and their derivatives generally showed lower toxicity. Notably, combinations of CuNPs with pesticides or their derivatives maintained high toxicity levels comparable to those of the CuNPs alone. According to the Loewe additivity model, these effects were largely additive and primarily associated with CuNPs or CuONPs. Protein profiling using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF)/TOF mass spectrometry (MS) revealed that carbendazim induced noticeable changes in protein profiles. These findings underscore the detrimental impacts of CuNPs and CuONPs on the metabolic activity of , posing a considerable risk to the health of agricultural soils. Overall, this research provides crucial insights into the risks associated with using CuNPs in agriculture, particularly regarding their potential threat to nitrifying microorganisms in soils.
铜纳米颗粒（CuNPs）越来越多地单独或与农药结合用于农业。认识到CuNPs在土壤环境中的潜在危害，我们的研究评估了它们对嗜碱自养硝化菌ATCC 2539代谢活性的影响，该细菌对硝化过程至关重要，硝化过程涉及土壤生态系统中亚硝酸盐氧化为硝酸盐。本研究评估了CuNPs（2.5至162.7 mg/L）、氧化铜纳米颗粒（CuONPs，3.2至203.6 mg/L）、各种农药（异菌脲、多菌灵和2,4-二氯苯氧乙酸）及其衍生物（3,5-二氯苯胺、邻苯二酚和2,4-二氯苯酚）在0.04至2.56 mM浓度范围内的影响。硫酸铜（CuSO）也用作对照以进行比较。我们的研究结果表明，CuNPs显著抑制了该菌的代谢活性，在浓度≥2.5 mg/L时，代谢活性降低高达95%。CuONPs毒性较小，而农药及其衍生物通常毒性较低。值得注意的是，CuNPs与农药或其衍生物的组合保持了与单独CuNPs相当的高毒性水平。根据洛伊相加模型，这些影响在很大程度上是相加的，并且主要与CuNPs或CuONPs有关。使用基质辅助激光解吸/电离（MALDI）飞行时间（TOF）/TOF质谱（MS）进行的蛋白质谱分析表明，多菌灵引起了蛋白质谱的显著变化。这些发现强调了CuNPs和CuONPs对该菌代谢活性的有害影响，对农业土壤健康构成相当大的风险。总体而言，本研究为农业中使用CuNPs相关风险提供了关键见解，特别是其对土壤中硝化微生物的潜在威胁。
