Effects of water regime,crop residues,and application rates on control of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense

Biological soil disinfestation is an effective method to control soil-borne disease by flooding and incorporating with organic amendments, but field conditions and resources sometimes limited its practical application. A laboratory experiment was conducted to develop practice guidelines on controlling Fusarium wilt, a widespread banana disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC). FOC infested soil incorporated with rice or maize straw at rates of 1.5 tons/ha and 3.0 tons/ha was incubated under flooded or water-saturated (100% water holding capacity) conditions at 30°C for 30 days. Results showed that FOC populations in the soils incorporated with either rice or maize straw rapidly reduced more than 90% in the first 15 days and then fluctuated till the end of incubation, while flooding alone without organic amendment reduced FOC populations slightly. The rapid and dramatic decrease of redox potential (down to − 350 mV) in straw-amended treatments implied that both anaerobic condition and strongly reductive soil condition would contribute to pathogen inactivation. Water-saturation combined with straw amendments had the comparable effects on reduction of FOC, indicating that flooding was not indispensable for inactivating FOC. There was no significant difference in the reduction of FOC observed in the straw amendments at between 1.5 and 3 tons/ha. Therefore, incorporating soil with straw (rice or maize straw) at a rate of 3.0 tons/ha under 100% water holding capacity or 1.5 tons/ha under flooding, would effectively alleviate banana Fusarium wilt caused by FOC after 15-day treating under 30°C.     

菌株 Arthrobacter sp. CN2降解对硝基苯酚的特性与动力学

为研究对硝基苯酚降解菌Arthrobacter sp.CN2在实际生产中的应用潜力,本文分别分析了p H、盐浓度和额外添加碳源对降解效率的影响,同时对降解的动力学方程进行拟合分析.菌株CN2在p H 7.0~8.0,Na Cl浓度60 g·L-1之间能够高效降解对硝基苯酚,72 h内对50 mg·L-1对硝基苯酚的降解率均大于90%.同时发现适量添加葡萄糖(0.5%)可显著促进CN2降解对硝基苯酚,与不添加葡萄糖条件下相比,达到90%降解率所需时间缩短了16 h.当对硝基苯酚浓度低于300 mg·L-1时,菌株CN2对对硝基苯酚的降解符合一级动力学方程,降解速率常数在0.021 7~0.025 0之间.在生物反应器中应用菌株CN2模拟处理工业废水,3 L含对硝基苯酚废水(100 mg·L-1)在72h的降解率大于90%.研究表明,菌株Arthrobacter sp.CN2能够高效地降解对硝基苯酚,对于环境有良好适应能力,具有良好的应用前景.     

New molecular method to detect denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation bacteria from different environmental niches

The denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation is an ecologically important process for reducing the potential methane emission into the atmosphere. The responsible bacterium for this process was Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera belonging to the bacterial phylum of NC10. In this study, a new pair of primers targeting all the five groups of NC10 bacteria was designed to amplify NC10 bacteria from different environmental niches. The results showed that the group A was the dominant NC10 phylum bacteria from the sludges and food waste digestate while in paddy soil samples, group A and group B had nearly the same proportion. Our results also indicated that NC10 bacteria could exist in a high pH environment (pH 9.24) from the food waste treatment facility. The Pearson relationship analysis showed that the pH had a significant positive relationship with the NC10 bacterial diversity (p < 0.05). The redundancy analysis further revealed that the pH, volatile solid and nitrite nitrogen were the most important factors in shaping the NC10 bacterial structure (p = 0.01) based on the variation inflation factors selection and Monte Carlo test (999 times). Results of this study extended the existing molecular tools for studying the NC10 bacterial community structures and provided new information on the ecological distributions of NC10 bacteria.     

Enhanced methane production in an anaerobic digestion and microbial electrolysis cell coupled system with co-cultivation of Geobacter and Methanosarcina

The anaerobic digestion(AD)and microbial electrolysis cell(MEC)coupled system has been proved to be a promising process for biomethane production.In this paper,it was found that by co-cultivating Geobacter with Methanosarcina in an AD–MEC coupled system,methane yield was further increased by 24.1%,achieving to 360.2 m L/g-COD,which was comparable to the theoretical methane yield of an anaerobic digester.With the presence of Geobacter,the maximum chemical oxygen demand(COD)removal rate(216.8 mg COD/(L·hr))and current density(304.3 A/m_3)were both increased by 1.3 and 1.8 fold compared to the previous study without Geobacter,resulting in overall energy efficiency reaching up to 74.6%.Community analysis demonstrated that Geobacter and Methanosarcina could coexist together in the biofilm,and the electrochemical activities of both were confirmed by cyclic voltammetry.Our study observed that the carbon dioxide content in total gas generated from the AD reactor with Geobacter was only half of that generated from the same reactor without Geobacter,suggesting that Methanosarcina may obtain the electron transferred from Geobacter for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane.Taken together,Geobacter not only can improve the performance of the MEC system,but also can enhance methane production.     

Chemical composition and properties of ashes from combustion plants using Miscanthus as fuel

Miscanthus giganteus is one of the energy crops considered to show potential for a substantial contribution to sustainable energy production. In the literature there is little data available about the chemical composition of ashes from the combustion of Miscanthus and practically no data about their physical properties. However, for handling, treatment and utilization of the ashes this information is important. In this study ashes from two biomass combustion plants using Miscanthus as fuel were investigated. The density of the ashes was 2230 ± 35 kg/m~3, which was similar to the density of ashes from straw combustion. Also the bulk densities were close to those reported for straw ashes. The flowability of the ashes was a little worse than the flowability of ashes from wood combustion. The measured heavy metal concentrations were below the usual limits for utilization of the ashes as soil conditioner. The concentrations in the bottom ash were similar to those reported for ash from forest residue combustion plants. In comparison with cyclone fly ashes from forest residue combustion the measured heavy metal concentrations in the cyclone fly ash were considerably lower. Cl-, S and Zn were enriched in the cyclone fly ash which is also known for ashes from wood combustion. In comparison with literature data obtained from Miscanthus plant material the concentrations of K, Cl-and S were lower.This can be attributed to the fact that the finest fly ash is not collected by the cyclone de-dusting system of the Miscanthus combustion plants.     

苯甲酸盐厌氧驯化体系中三氯乙烯的还原脱氯特性

采用气相色谱法实时监测了厌氧条件下,以苯甲酸盐为唯一碳源的驯化活性污泥体系对三氯乙烯(TCE)的还原脱氯情况;同时,结合454焦磷酸测序和实时荧光定量PCR技术对该体系中的微生物群落结构及脱卤拟球菌(DHC)的数量进行分析.结果表明,该驯化体系在94 d内能将TCE完全去除,最终转化产物为一氯乙烯(VC),同时伴随大量的甲烷产生;体系中微生物的多样性很高,涵盖了16个门、33个纲、52个目、88个科和129个属,而且体系中约有51.2%的微生物的分类地位尚未明确,说明体系中还存在很多未知的功能菌;体系对TCE的降解过程其实就是还原脱氯菌与其它功能菌相互作用的结果,且起主要还原脱氯作用的是携带tce A功能基因的DHC.     

利用DGGE-菌落原位杂交法分离土壤中精喹禾灵降解菌

从自然环境中分离到的可降解农药的土著微生物,因其对环境的友好性及原位修复的可行性,受到了高度关注.为从土壤中筛选精喹禾灵降解菌株,首先利用PCR-DGGE技术分析了除草剂精喹禾灵胁迫下土壤细菌群落结构及多样性的变化.结果表明,添加精喹禾灵后,土壤细菌群落结构发生了明显的改变.精喹禾灵使细菌多样性呈现出增加-减少-增加的变化趋势,其中第9 d变化最大,后期趋于稳定.根据DGGE图谱条带的测序结果推断,Pseudomonas、Massilia、Burkholderia等属中的细菌对精喹禾灵具有耐受性或降解潜力,这些微生物类群可作为减少农药残留的土著微生物资源进行分离筛选.根据条带的测序结果,合成了地高辛(Digoxigenin)标记的探针,并进行了菌落原位杂交,筛选到了3株具有降解潜力的菌株,其中L1可以利用精喹禾灵作为唯一碳源生长,经16S rRNA基因鉴定该菌株属于假单胞菌属(Pseudomonas sp.).利用高效液相色谱法测定了菌株L1在无机盐培养基中降解精喹禾灵的效果.结果表明,培养7 d后,精喹禾灵的含量减少了近50%,且随着精喹禾灵含量的降低,L1菌体数量增加,证实了菌株L1具有降解精喹禾灵的能力.这一结果为今后研究菌株L1降解精喹禾灵的机制、功能基因等奠定了基础.     

溶藻活性物质对棕囊藻溶藻及其脂肪酸影响的模拟

为了探讨芽孢杆菌B1分泌的胞外溶藻活性物质对球形棕囊藻的溶藻特性和藻毒素物质脂肪酸的影响,比较了模拟自然水体中叶绿素a、p H、溶解氧DO、高锰酸盐指数和营养元素N、P浓度在溶藻前后的变化,并利用GC-MS检测了球形棕囊藻脂肪酸的成分和含量.用体积比1∶100的芽孢杆菌B1胞外活性物质处理模拟水体14 d,发现水体中叶绿素a、p H值和高锰酸盐指数随处理时间的增加而降低,DO和N、P浓度随处理时间的增加而增加.在第14 d时,处理组水体中p H值由8.50降低到7.51,叶绿素a降低82.3%(P0.05),DO增加29.5%(P0.05),高锰酸盐指数降低55.2%(P0.01).NH+4-N、NO-2-N、NO-3-N和PO3-4-P浓度分别增加了0.46、1.50、6.24和1.30倍.投加活性物质处理14 d后,球形棕囊藻藻毒素中的主要3种脂肪酸C18:2、C16:0和C18:1分别降低了100%、97.7%和85.4%(P0.01),总脂肪酸含量降低83.4%(P0.01).结果表明,芽孢杆菌B1胞外溶藻活性物质在模拟自然水体中能有效抑制球形棕囊藻的生长,并降低藻毒素脂肪酸的含量.研究结果为芽孢杆菌B1胞外活性物质的生态安全性应用提供理论基础.     

Effects of water regime, crop residues, and application rates on control of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense

Biological soil disinfestation is an effective method to control soil-borne disease by flooding and incorporating with organic amendments, but field conditions and resources sometimes limited its practical application. A laboratory experiment was conducted to develop practice guidelines on controlling Fusarium wilt, a widespread banana disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense(FOC). FOC infested soil incorporated with rice or maize straw at rates of 1.5 tons/ha and 3.0 tons/ha was incubated under flooded or water-saturated(100% water holding capacity) conditions at 30℃ for 30 days. Results showed that FOC populations in the soils incorporated with either rice or maize straw rapidly reduced more than 90% in the first 15 days and then fluctuated till the end of incubation, while flooding alone without organic amendment reduced FOC populations slightly. The rapid and dramatic decrease of redox potential(down to- 350 m V) in straw-amended treatments implied that both anaerobic condition and strongly reductive soil condition would contribute to pathogen inactivation. Water-saturation combined with straw amendments had the comparable effects on reduction of FOC, indicating that flooding was not indispensable for inactivating FOC. There was no significant difference in the reduction of FOC observed in the straw amendments at between 1.5 and 3 tons/ha. Therefore,incorporating soil with straw(rice or maize straw) at a rate of 3.0 tons/ha under 100%water holding capacity or 1.5 tons/ha under flooding, would effectively alleviate banana Fusarium wilt caused by FOC after 15-day treating under 30℃.     

Pseudomonas sp. ZXY-1, a newly isolated and highly efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium, and optimization of biodegradation using response surface methodology

Atrazine, a widely used herbicide, is increasing the agricultural production effectively, while also causing great environmental concern. Efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium is necessary to removal atrazine rapidly to keep a safe environment. In the present study, a new atrazine-degrading strain ZXY-1, identified as Pseudomonas, was isolated. This new isolated strain has a strong ability to biodegrade atrazine with a high efficiency of 9.09 mg/L/hr.Temperature, p H, inoculum size and initial atrazine concentration were examined to further optimize the degradation of atrazine, and the synthetic effect of these factors were investigated by the response surface methodology. With a high quadratic polynomial mathematical model(R~2= 0.9821) being obtained, the highest biodegradation efficiency of 19.03 mg/L/hr was reached compared to previous reports under the optimal conditions(30.71°C, pH 7.14, 4.23%(V/V) inoculum size and 157.1 mg/L initial atrazine concentration).Overall, this study provided an efficient bacterium and approach that could be potentially useful for the bioremediation of wastewater containing atrazine.     

Biodegradation of pendimethalin by Bacillus subtilis Y3

A bacterium strain Y3,capable of efficiently degrading pendimethalin,was isolated from activated sludge and identified as Bacillus subtilis according to its phenotypic features and 16 S rRNA phylogenetic analysis.This strain could grow on pendimethalin as a sole carbon source and degrade 99.5%of 100 mg/L pendimethalin within 2.5 days in batch liquid culture,demonstrating a greater efficiency than any other reported strains.Three metabolic products,6-aminopendimethalin,5-amino-2-methyl-3-nitroso-4-(pentan-3-ylamino) benzoic acid,and 8-amino-2-ethyl-5-(hydroxymethyl)-1,2-dihydroquinoxaline-6-carboxylic acid,were identified by HPLC-MS/MS,and a new microbial degradation pathway was proposed.A nitroreductase catalyzing nitroreduction of pendimethalin to 6-aminopendimethalin was detected in the cell lysate of strain Y3.The cofactor was nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate(NADPH) or more preferably nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide(NADH).The optimal temperature and pH for the nitroreductase were 30℃ and 7.5,respectively.Hg~(2+),Ni~(2+),Pb~(2+),Co~(2+),Mn~(2+) Cu~(2+),Ag~+,and EDTA severely inhibited the nitroreductase activity,whereas Fe~(2+),Mg~(2+),and Ca~(2+) enhanced it.This study provides an efficient pendimethalin-degrading microorganism and broadens the knowledge of the microbial degradation pathway of pendimethalin.     

Coupling mechanism of activated carbon mixed with dust for flue gas desulfurization and denitrification

To clarify the effect of coking dust, sintering dust and fly ash on the activity of activated carbon for various industrial flue gas desulfurization and denitrification, the coupling mechanism of the mixed activated carbon and dust was investigated to provide theoretical reference for the stable operation. The results show that coking dust had 34% desulfurization efficiency and 10% denitrification efficiency; correspondingly, sintering dust and fly ash had no obvious desulfurization and denitrification activities. For the mixture of activated carbon and dust, the coking dust reduced the desulfurization and denitrification efficiencies by blocking the pores of activated carbon, and its inhibiting effect on activated carbon was larger than its own desulfurization and denitrification activity. The sintering dust also reduced the desulfurization efficiency on the activated carbon while enhancing the denitrification efficiency. Fly ash blocked the pores of activated carbon and reduced its reaction activity. The reaction activity of coking dust mainly came from the surface functional groups, similar to that of activated carbon. The reaction activity of sintering dust mainly came from the oxidative property of Fe₂O₃, which oxidized NO to NO₂ and promoted the fast selectively catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO to form N₂. Sintering dust was activated by the joint action of activated carbon, and both had a coupling function. Sintering dust enhanced the adsorption and oxidation of NO, and activated carbon further promoted the reduction of NO_x by NH₃; thus, the denitrification efficiency increased by 5%-7% on the activated carbon.     

不同添加剂对铅冶炼污染石灰性土壤的修复及土壤性质的影响研究

探讨了污水处理厂脱水污泥、枯草和磷矿粉对受铅冶炼污染的石灰性土壤(全Pb、Cd、Zn含量分别为2337、21.4、486 mg·kg-1,DTPA提取态Pb、Cd、Zn含量分别为1035、14.5、68.7 mg·kg-1)中重金属的稳定效果及对土壤性质的影响.其中,污泥和枯草均按200 g·kg-1(干重)的用量施用,磷矿粉按n(P)∶n(Pb)=2∶1比例施用,培养80 d.研究结果表明,单独施用污泥可使土壤DTPA-Pb含量降低18.0%(p0.05),并可显著降低土壤pH,增加土壤氮、磷有效性和电导率、DTPA-Cd、DTPA-Zn含量,其中,DTPA-Cd、DTPA-Zn含量增加比例均达到10%以上.单独施用枯草可使土壤DTPA-Pb含量降低10.7%(p0.05),土壤有机质含量增加26.4%(p0.05),对土壤其它性状影响较小.磷矿粉单独施用时对土壤性质影响较小.与污泥单独施用相比,磷矿粉与污泥配合施用时,可使土壤DTPA-Cd含量降低11.9%.     

Nitrogen reduction using bioreactive thin-layer capping (BTC) with biozeolite: A field experiment in a eutrophic river

Bioreactive thin-layer capping (BTC) with biozeolite provides a potential remediation design that can sustainably treat N contamination from sediment and overlying water in eutrophic water bodies. Nitrogen (N) reduction using BTC with biozeolite was examined in a field incubation experiment in a eutrophic river in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The biozeolite was zeolite with attached bacteria, including two isolated heterotrophic nitrifiers (Bacillus spp.) and two isolated aerobic denitrifiers (Acinetobacter spp.). The results showed that the total nitrogen (TN) reduction efficiency of the overlying water by BTC with biozeolite (with thickness of about 2 mm) reached a maximum (56.69%) at day 34, and simultaneous heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification occurred in the BTC system until day 34. There was a significant difference in the TN concentrations of the overlying water between biozeolite capping and control (t-test; p < 0.05). The biozeolite had very strong in situ bioregeneration ability. Carbon was the main source of nitrifier growth. However, both dissolved oxygen (DO) and carbon concentrations affected denitrifier growth. In particular, DO concentrations greater than 3 mg/L inhibited denitrifier growth. Therefore, BTC with biozeolite was found to be a feasible technique to reduce N in a eutrophic river. However, it is necessary to further strengthen the adaptability of aerobic denitrifiers through changing domestication methods or conditions.     

Performance of low temperature Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) catalyzed by mixed bacterial consortia

Microbial Fuel Cells(MFCs) are a promising technology for treating wastewater in a sustainable manner. In potential applications, low temperatures substantially reduce MFC performance. To better understand the effect of temperature and particularly how bioanodes respond to changes in temperature, we investigated the current generation of mixed-culture and pure-culture MFCs at two low temperatures, 10°C and 5°C. The results implied that the mixed-culture MFC sustainably performed better than the pure-culture(Shewanella) MFC at 10°C, but the electrogenic activity of anodic bacteria was substantially reduced at the lower temperature of 5°C. At 10°C, the maximum output voltage generated with the mixed-culture was 540–560 m V, which was 10%–15% higher than that of Shewanella MFCs. The maximum power density reached 465.3 ± 5.8 m W/m~2 for the mixed-culture at10°C, while only 68.7 ± 3.7 m W/m~2 was achieved with the pure-culture. It was shown that the anodic biofilm of the mixed-culture MFC had a lower overpotential and resistance than the pure-culture MFC. Phylogenetic analysis disclosed the prevalence of Geobacter and Pseudomonas rather than Shewanella in the mixed-culture anodic biofilm, which mitigated the increase of resistance or overpotential at low temperatures.     

麦草及其烟尘中正构烷烃的组成

在明火和闷烧条件下对6种麦草进行焚烧试验,用GC/MS测定了秸秆和烟尘中正构烷烃的组成.结果表明,从麦秆和烟尘中检出的正构烷烃主要是C16~C33.麦秸中正构烷烃的总含量变化范围是19.6~62.3 mg·kg-1,平均值为36.0mg·kg-1.低碳数(碳数相似文献   

Determination of the archaeal and bacterial communities in two-phase and single-stage anaerobic systems by 454 pyrosequencing

2-Phase anaerobic digestion (AD), where the acidogenic phase was operated at 2 day hydraulic retention time (HRT) and the methanogenic phase at 10 days HRT, had been evaluated to determine if it could provide higher organic reduction and methane production than the conventional single-stage AD (also operated at 12 days HRT). 454 pyrosequencing was performed to determine and compare the microbial communities. The acidogenic reactor of the 2-phase system yielded a unique bacterial community of the lowest richness and diversity, while bacterial profiles of the methanogenic reactor closely followed the single-stage reactor. All reactors were predominated by hydrogenotrophic methanogens, mainly Methanolinea. Unusually, the acidogenic reactor contributed up to 24% of total methane production in the 2-phase system. This could be explained by the presence of Methanosarcina and Methanobrevibacter, and their activities could also help regulate reactor alkalinity during high loading conditions through carbon dioxide production. The enrichment of hydrolytic and acidogenic Porphyromonadaceae, Prevotellaceae, Ruminococcaceae and unclassified Bacteroidetes in the acidogenic reactor would have contributed to the improved sludge volatile solids degradation, and ultimately the overall 2-phase system''s performance. Syntrophic acetogenic microorganisms were absent in the acidogenic reactor but present in the downstream methanogenic reactor, indicating the retention of various metabolic pathways also found in a single-stage system. The determination of key microorganisms further expands our understanding of the complex biological functions in AD process.     

Using a novel adsorbent macrocyclic compound cucurbit[8]uril for Pb removal from aqueous solution

In this study, cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) was utilized as a kind of new adsorbent to remove Pb^2 + ions from aqueous solution. With the solution pH increased from 2 to 6, the removal efficiency of adsorption increased from 55.6% to 74.5%correspondingly. The uptake of Pb^2 + increased rapidly in the initial 30 min, and then the adsorption rate became slower. The Pseudo-second order model could be used to interpret the adsorption kinetics satisfactorily; and the rate determining step in Pb^2 + adsorption onto CB[8] was the external mass transfer step. Equilibrium isotherm study reveals that the Langmuir model gave a better fitting result than Freundlich model. The maximum adsorption capacity calculated by the Langmuir model was 152.67 mg/g for 298 K, 149.70 mg/g for 313 K and 136.42 mg/g for 323 K, respectively. The adsorption is a spontaneous process of exothermic nature. The effect of the adsorbent dosage and the influences of solution pH and co-existing cations were also investigated. The CB[8] was synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, IR, ESI-MS spectra, SEM-EDAX, Zeta-potential and BET-analysis. The adsorption mechanism was due to the coordination between CB[8] molecule and Pb^2 + ions.     

Bioreduction of vanadium (V) in groundwater by autohydrogentrophic bacteria: Mechanisms and microorganisms

As one of the transition metals, vanadium (V) (V(V)) in trace amounts represents an essential element for normal cell growth, but becomes toxic when its concentration is above 1 mg/L. V(V) can alter cellular differentiation, gene expression, and other biochemical and metabolic phenomena. A feasible method to detoxify V(V) is to reduce it to V(IV), which precipitates and can be readily removed from the water. The bioreduction of V(V) in a contaminated groundwater was investigated using autohydrogentrophic bacteria and hydrogen gas as the electron donor. Compared with the previous organic donors, H₂ shows the advantages as an ideal electron donor, including nontoxicity and less production of excess biomass. V(V) was 95.5% removed by biochemical reduction when autohydrogentrophic bacteria and hydrogen were both present, and the reduced V(IV) precipitated, leading to total-V removal. Reduction kinetics could be described by a first-order model and were sensitive to pH and temperature, with the optimum ranges of pH 7.5–8.0 and 35–40°C, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis by clone library showed that the dominant species in the experiments with V(V) bioreduction belonged to the β-Proteobacteria. Previously known V(V)-reducing species were absent, suggesting that V(V) reduction was carried out by novel species. Their selective enrichment during V(V) bioreduction suggests that Rhodocyclus, a denitrifying bacterium, and Clostridium, a fermenter known to carry out metal reduction, were responsible for V(V) bioreduction.     

Sunlight-driven reduction of silver ion to silver nanoparticle by organic matter mitigates the acute toxicity of silver to Daphnia magna

Due to the unique antibacterial activities, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been extensively used in commercial products. Anthropogenic activities have released considerable AgNPs as well as highly toxic silver ion (Ag⁺) into the aquatic environment. Our recent study revealed that ubiquitous natural organic matter (NOM) could reduce Ag⁺ to AgNP under natural sunlight. However, the toxic effect of this process is not well understood. In this work, we prepared mixture solution of Ag⁺ and AgNPs with varied Ag⁺% through the sunlight-driven reduction of Ag⁺ by NOM and investigated the acute toxicity of the solutions on Daphnia magna. Formation of AgNPs was demonstrated and characterized by comprehensive techniques and the fraction of unconverted Ag⁺ was determined by ultrafiltration-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry determination. The formation of AgNPs enhanced significantly with the increasing of solution pH and cumulative photosynthetically active radiation of sunlight. The toxicity of the resulting solution was further investigated by using freshwater crustacean D. magna as a model and an 8 hr-median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) demonstrated that the reduction of Ag⁺ by NOM to AgNPs significantly mitigated the acute toxicity of silver. These results highlight the importance of sunlight and NOM in the fate, transformation and toxicity of Ag⁺ and AgNPs, and further indicate that the acute toxicity of AgNPs should be mainly ascribed to the dissolved Ag⁺ from AgNPs.