Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1039/c8en00142a
Document author version
Title (Primary) New aspects of the environmental risks of quantum dots: prophage activation
Author Xu, J.; He, H.; Wang, Y.-Y.; Yan, R.; Zhou, L.-J.; Liu, Y.; Jiang, F.-L.; Maskow, T. ORCID logo ; Liu, Y.
Source Titel Environmental Science-Nano
Year 2018
Department UMB
Volume 5
Issue 7
Page From 1556
Page To 1566
Language englisch
Supplements http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/c8/en/c8en00142a/c8en00142a1.pdf
Abstract A few thousand tons of nanoparticles and quantum dots (QDs) are produced yearly worldwide, and a significant amount is released into ecosystems. This knowledge has stimulated numerous studies on the toxicological properties of these nanomaterials. However, an important ecotoxicological aspect has been largely overlooked: the activation of silent viruses in bacteria (the so-called prophages). This is particularly important because, once the prophages are activated, phage replication using bacterial hosts is an autocatalytic process with a potentially exponential rate of bacteria killing under certain conditions. To shed light on these underestimated processes, the interactions of differently functionalized CdTe QDs with E. coli containing lambda prophages were investigated. We found that prophages can be activated with as little as a nanomolar concentration range of QDs. DNA damage due to oxidative stress induced by the CdTe QDs was revealed as the main reason for the prophage activation. The contribution of freely dissociated Cd2+ to prophage activation was on the order of 15 to 25%. Our pioneering work is intended to provide the first examination to better understand the role of nanoparticles in aquatic ecosystems.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=20742
Xu, J., He, H., Wang, Y.-Y., Yan, R., Zhou, L.-J., Liu, Y., Jiang, F.-L., Maskow, T., Liu, Y. (2018):
New aspects of the environmental risks of quantum dots: prophage activation
Environ. Sci.-Nano 5 (7), 1556 - 1566 10.1039/c8en00142a