A comparative ecotoxicity analysis of alpha- and gamma-phase aluminium oxide nanoparticles towards a freshwater bacterial isolate Bacillus licheniformis

作者：Pakrashi Sunandan; Kumar Deepak; Iswarya V; Bhuvaneshwari M; Chandrasekaran N; Mukherjee Amitava^*

来源：Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, 2014, 37(12): 2415-2423.

DOI：10.1007/s00449-014-1218-1

• alpha-Alumina
• gamma-Alumina
• Ecotoxicity
• Surface interaction

Crystalline structure of nanoparticles may influence their physicochemical behaviour as well as their toxicological impact on biota. The differences in orientation of the atoms result in the variations in chemical stability. Thus, toxicological impacts of different crystalline phases of aluminium oxide nanoparticles are expected to vary. The present study brings out a comparative toxicity analysis of gamma-phase and alpha-phase aluminium oxide nanoparticles of comparable hydrodynamic size range towards a freshwater bacterial isolate Bacillus licheniformis at low exposure concentrations (5, 1, 0.5 and 0.05 A mu g/mL). Upon 2-h exposure, the alpha-aluminium oxide particles showed lower toxicity than the gamma-phase aluminium oxide. The lower level of oxidative stress generation and cell membrane damage in case of the alpha-phase aluminium oxide nanoparticles substantiated the toxicity results. The involvement of protein, lipopolysaccharides in nanoparticle-cell surface interaction, was noted in both the cases. To conclude, the crystallinity of aluminium oxide nanoparticles played an important role in the interaction and the toxicity response.

• 出版日期2014-12