Elevated toxicity and high-risk Impacts of small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon clusters on microbes compared to large clusters

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread contaminants that can accumulate in microorganisms, posing significant ecological risks. While previous studies primarily focused on PAH concentrations, the impacts of PAH self-clustering have been largely overlooked, which will lead to inaccurate assessments of their ecological risks. This study evaluates the toxic effects of four prevalent PAH clusters on microbes with an emphasis on comparing the cluster sizes. Results revealed that over 95% of PAHs can form clusters in the aquatic environment, with smaller clusters more likely to form at lower concentrations and with fewer benzene rings. To quantify the toxic effects and understand underlying mechanisms, single-cell Raman-D2O was employed to link bacterial phenotypes with transcriptomic profiles. Bacteria exposed to smaller PAH clusters showed a 1%–10% reduction in metabolic activity, which was associated with a 1.8–2.9-fold increase in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, when exposed to smaller PAH clusters, the expression of genes related to the ROS response and efflux pumps was upregulated by up to 6.33-fold and 4.97-fold, respectively, suggesting that smaller PAH clusters pose greater toxicity to microbes. These findings underscore the potentially overlooked risks of PAH clusters in environmental systems and deepen our understanding of the environmental fate and ecological risks of these contaminants.

Schlagwörter

Ecological risk, Gene expression, Molecular clusters, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Single-cell Raman, Toxic response

Fachgebiet (DDC)

600 - Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften

Projekt

Veranstaltung

Startdatum der Ausstellung

Enddatum der Ausstellung

Startdatum der Konferenz

Enddatum der Konferenz

Datum der letzten Prüfung

ISBN

ISSN

0013-936X
1520-5851

Sprache

Englisch

Während FHNW Zugehörigkeit erstellt

Ja

Zukunftsfelder FHNW

Zero Emission

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Begutachtung

Peer-Review der ganzen Publikation

Open Access-Status

Closed

Lizenz

Zitation

Zheng, S., Dong, J., Chen, Q., Wu, M., Zhu, D., Cui, L., Corvini, P., Li, H.-Z., & Pan, B. (2024). Elevated toxicity and high-risk Impacts of small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon clusters on microbes compared to large clusters. Environmental Science & Technology, 59(1), 224–233. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c10078

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