Antibacterial, Antifungal and Nematicidal Activities of Rare Earth Ions

作者：Wakabayashi Tokumitsu^*; Ymamoto Ayumi^*; Kazaana Akira; Nakano Yuta; Nojiri Yui; Kashiwazaki Moeko

来源：Biological Trace Element Research, 2016, 174(2): 464-470.

DOI：10.1007/s12011-016-0727-y

• Rare earth
• Lanthanide
• Antimicrobial materials
• Soil nematodes
• Metal ions

Despite the name, rare earth elements are relatively abundant in soil. Therefore, these elements might interact with biosphere during the history of life. In this study, we have examined the effect of rare earth ions on the growth of bacteria, fungi and soil nematode. All rare earth ions, except radioactive promethium that we have not tested, showed antibacterial and antifungal activities comparable to that of copper ions, which is widely used as antibacterial metals in our daily life. Rare earth ions also have nematicidal activities as they strongly perturb the embryonic development of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Interestingly, the nematicidal activity increased with increasing atomic number of lanthanide ions. Since the rare earth ions did not show high toxicity to the human lymphoblastoid cell line or even stimulate the growth of the cultured cells at 1 mM, it raised the possibility that we can substitute rare earth elements for the antibacterial metals usually used because of their safety.

• 出版日期2016-12