Bethune Elle, Gromov Andrey, Campbell Eleanor E B, Cockell Charles S
UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Eastchem and School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Aug 4;16:1511842. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1511842. eCollection 2025.
Fullerenes of extra-terrestrial origin may have been accessible as carbon sources for anaerobic microorganisms on the early Earth. Very little is known about how anaerobic microorganisms respond to and use fullerenes and their soluble derivatives. We present an investigation into the effects of fullerenes C and C and their hydroxylated fullerol derivatives on an environmentally relevant anaerobic community and a microbial isolate. Fullerenes and fullerols irradiated with 254 nm UV radiation for 2 weeks in the absence of oxygen to simulate UV irradiation under anoxia on early Earth were also assessed. The anaerobic community could grow using glucose in the presence of C up to 500 mg/mL without inhibitory effects on growth. Concentrations of C of 500 mg/ml were inhibitory. We attribute these results to the different chemical reactivity and photophysical properties of the fullerenes. The experiments suggest the potential for the use of C as a sole carbon source. Both C and C fullerols were inhibitory to growth in the presence of glucose, especially when exposed to light. When we exposed C fullerol suspensions to 254 nm UV radiation under an anoxic atmosphere, they become significantly more inhibitory to both the community and the isolate, but only if the cultures are grown under ambient light exposure. The anaerobic isolate was unable to grow on C alone, but after UV radiation exposure, the C photodegradation products served as a potentially accessible carbon source. Our data show that fullerenes and their derivatives are biologically active and capable of influencing growth in anoxic environments such as those that would have been prevalent on early Earth or in modern-day anoxic soils. Our results show that carbon sources such as these can be both beneficial or deleterious to life depending on their concentrations and environmental processing.
来自地球外的富勒烯可能曾是早期地球上厌氧微生物可利用的碳源。关于厌氧微生物如何响应和利用富勒烯及其可溶性衍生物，人们了解得非常少。我们对富勒烯C和C及其羟基化富勒醇衍生物对一个与环境相关的厌氧群落和一种微生物分离株的影响进行了研究。还评估了在无氧条件下用254 nm紫外线辐射照射2周的富勒烯和富勒醇，以模拟早期地球缺氧条件下的紫外线照射。厌氧群落可以在存在高达500 mg/mL的C的情况下利用葡萄糖生长，且对生长没有抑制作用。500 mg/ml的C浓度具有抑制作用。我们将这些结果归因于富勒烯不同的化学反应性和光物理性质。实验表明C有作为唯一碳源使用的潜力。在有葡萄糖存在的情况下，C和C富勒醇均对生长有抑制作用，尤其是在光照条件下。当我们在缺氧气氛中将C富勒醇悬浮液暴露于254 nm紫外线辐射时，它们对群落和分离株的抑制作用显著增强，但前提是培养物在环境光照下生长。这种厌氧分离株不能仅以C为碳源生长，但在紫外线辐射暴露后，C的光降解产物成为一种潜在可利用的碳源。我们的数据表明，富勒烯及其衍生物具有生物活性，能够影响缺氧环境中的生长，比如早期地球或现代缺氧土壤中普遍存在的环境。我们的结果表明，这类碳源对生命既可能有益也可能有害，这取决于它们的浓度和环境处理情况。
