Cytotoxicity of single-walled carbon nanotubes,multi-walled carbon nanotubes,and chrysotile to human lung epithelial cells

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have found numerous applications in various industries. Recently, adverse effects of these materials on human and animal cells in vitro have been reported. In the present study, the cytotoxicity of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and chrysotile asbestos in human lung epithelial cells has been studied using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The cells were exposed for 6 h and 24 h to between 0.97 and 1500 μg mL^?1 of CNTs and chrysotile fibers prepared in two culture media containing 5% serum and 0.5% dimethylsulfoxide. Dose–response curves were obtained to determine the nonobservable adverse effect concentration and the half-maximum inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀). The way of dispersion affects the cytotoxicity of CNTs. For MWCNT, the toxicological indexes were lower than for SWCNT. Chrysotile fibers were even less cytotoxic than CNTs. Therefore, workplace control measures are recommended as priority for occupational and environmental conditions.     

DNA damage in mouse organs and in human sperm cells by bisphenol A

Abstract

The in vivo genotoxic potential of bisphenol A using the comet assay in mice and in human sperm cells in vitro without metabolizing enzymes was studied. Male mice were exposed by oral gavage to the following doses of bisphenol A (0 125, 250 and 500?mg/kg body weight). DNA damage was investigated in liver, kidney, testes, urinary bladder, colon and lungs cells. In testicular cells, a significant increase in DNA strand breaks was observed in the lowest, but not in the medium or highest dose groups. Histopathological investigation of the testicular samples did not show any treatment dose-related effects. No DNA strand breaks were observed in any of the other investigated tissues. In human sperm cells in vitro, bisphenol A did not induce DNA strand breaks.     

Effects of cotton straw amendment on soil fertility and microbial communities

Maintaining soil fertility, while controlling pollution from excessive chemical fertilizer application is important for keeping soil productivity of sustainable agriculture. Variety of straws have been used and proven to be good soil amendments for increasing soil organic matter (OM) and a range of additional soil nutrients. However, little is known about the utilization of cotton straw for soil amendment. To better understand the mechanism behind cotton straw soil amendments, investigations were performed upon cucumber seedlings, where changes to soil nutrients and microbial communities were investigated. The results revealed that the cotton straw application promoted the cucumber seedling growth by significantly increasing the soil OM, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium. The concentration of cotton straw was positively correlated to both the number of the culturable microorganisms and also the total microbial biomass within soil. Furthermore, assessment of cotton straw application using Biolog metabolic profiling and phospholipid fatty acid analysis revealed that such application increased the microbial community metabolic activity, and markedly changed the structure of microbial community. 16S rRNA gene clone library construction and phylogenetic analysis of soil bacteria revealed γ- Proteobacteria sequences dominated the cotton straw amendment soil, comprising 27.8% of the total number of analyzed sequences, while they were less represented in control soil (13.4%). On the contrary, the Sphingobacteria (7.8%) and Verrucomicrobia (2.4%) in the cotton straw amendment soil decreased after application when compared to the control soil 15.2% and 15.2%.     

石油烃对栉孔扇贝血淋巴细胞DNA损伤的初步研究

为研究石油烃对海洋生物的毒性效应,将栉孔扇贝(Chlamys farreri)暴露于0.08、0.21和0.88mg·L-1石油烃中,采用单细胞凝胶电泳实验(彗星实验)技术检测不同暴露时间扇贝血淋巴细胞的DNA损伤程度,对照组中石油烃背景浓度为0.04mg·L-1。结果显示,低浓度(0.08mg·L-1)的石油烃短期(<7d)内即可导致栉孔扇贝血淋巴细胞的DNA损伤,并且随石油烃浓度的增大和暴露时间的延长,DNA损伤程度增加,石油烃浓度达0.88mg·L-1时,DNA损伤程度已非常严重。3d恢复实验后,各浓度组DNA损伤又均有不同程度的恢复。研究表明,彗星实验是检测石油烃对海洋贝类DNA损伤的一种有效手段,贝类血淋巴细胞DNA损伤有望成为石油烃污染的一种生物标志物,用于海洋污染的早期预警监测。     

好氧堆肥微生物代谢多样性及其细菌群落结构

好氧堆肥是农业废弃物无害化处理和资源化利用的一条有效途径.为了探究好氧堆肥过程中微生物群落的代谢特征和细菌群落演替现象,了解起关键作用的微生物菌群,通过筛选强降解菌种改善堆肥工艺、提高堆肥效率,采用Biolog法和宏基因组法分析了玉米秸秆和牛粪联合好氧堆肥过程中微生物的碳源代谢能力和细菌群落多样性.结果表明:在第2次翻堆（第14天）时,微生物利用碳源的能力最强,初次建堆时（0 d）和其余翻堆时（第8、20、26天）次之,发酵结束时（第34天）最弱.Simpson、Shannon-Wiener和McIntosh多样性指数表明,建堆时及翻堆时的菌群优势度、丰富度和均匀度均极显著优于好氧堆肥结束.不同好氧发酵时间的微生物群落对同一碳源代谢有差异,同一好氧发酵时间微生物群落对不同碳源的利用率不同.糖类、酸类和醇类是区分好氧堆肥不同时间微生物碳源利用差异的敏感碳源.好氧堆肥不同时间细菌的种类和丰度不同,共享的优势菌门有厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）、变形菌门（Proteobacteria）、拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）、绿弯菌门（Chloroflexi）、放线菌门（Actinobacteria）和浮霉菌门（Planctomycetes）,在第0、8、14、20、26、34天这6个时间内它们的相对丰度之和分别达90.27%、90.34%、94.26%、84.21%、84.31%和77.61%,且6种门类在不同发酵时间的丰度表达存在消长变化状态.研究显示,参与好氧堆肥不同时间的微生物群落在碳源代谢能力上存在多样性,在细菌菌群的种类和丰度上也存在多样性.      

生物可降解材料PHBV的细胞毒性评价的研究

通过体外细胞毒性试验,对新型材料β-羟基丁酸与β-羟基戊酸共聚物(PHBV)的细胞生物相容性进行了研究.主要依据ISO10993及GB/T16886-1997的标准,应用四甲基偶氮唑盐(MTT assay)比色法对PHBV的细胞毒性进行评价.选用不同体积分数、不同温度下的PHBV材料浸提液为培养液,以及与PHBV材料直接接触培养来检测1d、3 d、5 d小鼠成纤维细胞BHK-21的相对增值率,确定PHBV材料的毒性程度.实验结果表明,PHBV材料即使在高温下其物理化学性质也很稳定;它的细胞毒性程度为0级,有着良好的细胞生物相容性.     

自然生物膜对水体中罗丹明B的净化与响应

以RhB(RhodamineB, 罗丹明B)为模型染料,研究了自然生物膜对RhB的去除,并分别使用Biolog和PLFA(磷脂脂肪酸)为技术手段和指标,探究RhB的存在对自然生物膜微生物群落结构和微生物碳源利用多样性的影响. 结果表明,第1天自然生物膜对水体中RhB的去除率为29.2%,之后几天的平均去除率降至3.9%左右;在测试期内RhB的总去除率达到68.6%. PLFA测定结果表明,RhB使自然生物膜中的PLFA总量减少了52.23%,其中细菌、真菌和放线菌的数量分别减少了75.81%、67.03%和100%. Biolog测定结果表明,低质量浓度的RhB降低了自然生物膜中微生物群落对碳源的利用能力,改变了生物膜微生物群落对31种碳源的利用情况,但RhB并没有对自然生物膜的微生物结构造成完全的破坏. 综上,自然生物膜作为一种自然水体中自生的微生物聚集体具有显著的生态学意义,其对低质量浓度的RhB具有一定的净化作用,但是RhB的存在也会对自然生物膜的结构和功能产生影响.      

黄顶菊（Flaveriabidentis）入侵对土壤微生物功能多样性的影响

外来植物入侵对土壤生物多样性的影响已成为生态学领域的研究热点之一。运用Biolog技术和氯仿熏蒸浸提法研究了黄顶菊入侵对土壤微生物群落功能多样性及土壤微生物量的影响。结果表明,黄顶菊入侵后土壤微生物代谢活性显著升高;土壤微生物群落平均吸光值（4WCD）的变化趋势为：入侵地根际土（RPs）〉入侵地根围土（Bs）〉未入侵地（CK）,且差异显著;而CK的功能多样性指数（日）高于BS,RPS亦高于Bs,差异均显著（P〈O．05）。主成分分析结果表明,黄顶菊入侵使土壤微生物群落的碳源利用方式和代谢功能发生改变。对不同碳源利用的分析结果表明,糖类、氨基酸类、羧酸类和聚合物为土壤微生物利用的主要碳源。入侵样地Bs和RPS的微生物量碳分别比CK高27．05％、121．52％;BS和RPS的微生物量氮分别比CK高37．40％、79．80％。相关性分析表明,AWCD与微生物量碳和微生物量氮均呈极显著正相关（P〈0．01）。由此可知,黄顶菊入侵增强了入侵地土壤微生物代谢活性,降低了土壤微生物群落的功能多样性,增加了土壤微生物量碳、氮水平。     

Screening of textile finishing agents available on the Chinese market: An important source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to the environment

Kendrick mass defect was used for PFASs screening in textile finishing agents (TFAs). Total oxidizable precursor assay provides insight into unknown precursors. Perfluorooctane sulfonate was found as impurity in short ECF technology based TFAs. Perfluorooctanoate was also detected in C6 telomerization based TFAs. Long chain precursors were also observed in both types of TFAs. Organofluorinated surfactants are widely employed in textile finishing agents (TFAs) to achieve oil, water, and stain repellency. This has been regarded as an important emission source of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) to the environment. China is the biggest manufacturer of clothes, and thus TFA production is also a relevant industrial activity. Nevertheless, to date, no survey has been conducted on PFAS contents in commercially available TFAs. In the present study, TFA products were investigated by the Kendrick mass defect method. The quantification results demonstrated a significant presence of perfluorooctane sulfonate (0.37 mg/L) in TFAs manufactured by electrochemical fluorination technology. The products obtained by short-chain PFAS-based telomerization were dominated by perfluorooctanoic acid (mean concentration: 0.29 mg/L), whose values exceeded the limits stated in the European Chemical Agency guidelines (0.025 mg/L). Moreover, the total oxidizable precursor assay indicated high levels of indirectly quantified precursors with long alkyl chains (C7–C9). Together, these results suggest that there is currently a certain of environmental and health risks in China that originates from the utilization of TFAs, and a better manufacturing processes are required to reduce such risks.     

Trophic mode and organics metabolic characteristic of fungal community in swine manure composting

Fungal trophic modes and substrates utilization ability was observed in composting. Fungi had the higher diversity and more trophic types in thermophilic phase. Fungi had the higher metabolic potential in fresh swine manure and mature production. Redox potential, organics and moisture are main factors impacting fungal community. Composting reduced pathogenic fungi and enrich dung saprotroph fungi in swine manure. The succession of fungal community, trophic mode and metabolic characteristics were evaluated in 60 days composting of swine manure by high-throughput sequencing, FUNGuild and Biolog method, respectively. The result showed that the fungal community diversity reached to the highest level (76 OTUs) in the thermophilic phase of composting, then sustained decline to 15 OTUs after incubation. There were 10 fungal function groups in the raw swine manure. Pathotroph-saprotroph fungi reached to 15.91% on Day-10 but disappeared on Day-60. Dung saprotroph-undefined saprotroph fungi grown from 0.19% to 52.39% during the treatment. The fungal community had more functional groups but the lower substrate degradation rates in the thermophilic phase. The fungal communities on Day-0 and Day-60 had the highest degradation rates of amino acids and polymers, respectively. Redundancy analysis showed that ORP (49.6%), VS/Ash (45.3%) and moisture (39.2%) were the main influence factors on the succession of fungal community in the swine manure composting process.