BackgroundThe increasing production of nanoplastics and the fragmentation of microplastics into smaller particles suggest a plausible yet unclear hazard in the natural environment, such as soil. We investigated the short-term effects (28 days) of polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) on the activity and biomass of soil microbiota, and the functional diversity of soil enzymes at environmental relevant low levels in an incubation experiment.ResultsOur results showed a significant decrease in microbial biomass in treatments of 100 and 1000 ng PS-NP g−1 DM throughout the incubation period. Dehydrogenase activity and activities of enzymes involved in N-(leucine-aminopeptidase), P-(alkaline-phosphatase), and C-(β-glucosidase and cellobiohydrolase) cycles in the soil were significantly reduced at day 28 suggesting a broad and detrimental impact of PS-NPs on soil microbiota and enzymes. Leucine-aminopeptidase and alkaline-phosphatase activities tended to decrease consistently, while β-glucosidase and cellobiohydrolase activities increased at high concentrations (e.g., PS-NP-1000) in the beginning of the incubation period, e.g., at day 1. On the other hand, basal respiration and metabolic quotient increased with increasing PS-NP application rate throughout the incubation period possibly due to increased cell death that caused substrate-induced respiration (cryptic growth).ConclusionsWe herewith demonstrated for the first time the potential antimicrobial activity of PS-NPs in soil, and this may serve as an important resource in environmental risk assessment of PS-NPs in the soil environment.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12302-018-0140-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Phosphorus (P) is an important macronutrient with critical functions in plants. Phosphate (Pi) transporters, which mediate Pi acquisition and Pi translocation within the plant, are key factors in Pi deficiency responses. However, their relevance for adaptation to long‐term Pi limitation under agronomic conditions, particularly in wheat, remains unknown.Here, we describe the identification of the complete Pi transporter gene family (Pht1) in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Gene expression profiles were compared for hydroponic and field‐grown plant tissues of wheat at multiple development stages. Cis‐element analysis of selected Pht1 promoter regions was performed.A broad range of expression patterns of individual TaPht1 genes was observed in relation to tissue specificity and the nutrient supply in the soil or in liquid culture, as well as an influence of the experimental system.The expression patterns indicate the involvement of specific transporters in Pi uptake, and in Pi transport and remobilisation within the plant, at different growth developmental stages. Specifically, the influence of Pi nutrition indicates a complex regulatory pattern of TaPht1 gene transcript abundances as a response to low Pi availability in different culture systems, correlating with the existence of different cis‐acting promoter elements.

Background: Increasing exposure to engineered inorganic nanoparticles takes actually place in both terrestric and aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Although we already know harmful effects of AgNP on the soil bacterial community, information about the impact of the factors functionalization, concentration, exposure time, and soil texture on the AgNP effect expression are still rare. Hence, in this study, three soils of different grain size were exposed for up to 90 days to bare and functionalized AgNP in concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 1.00 mg/kg soil dry weight. Effects on soil microbial community were quantified by various biological parameters, including 16S rRNA gene, photometric, and fluorescence analyses.Results: Multivariate data analysis revealed significant effects of AgNP exposure for all factors and factor combinations investigated. Analysis of individual factors (silver species, concentration, exposure time, soil texture) in the unifactorial ANOVA explained the largest part of the variance compared to the error variance. In depth analysis of factor combinations revealed even better explanation of variance. For the biological parameters assessed in this study, the matching of soil texture and silver species, and the matching of soil texture and exposure time were the two most relevant factor combinations. The factor AgNP concentration contributed to a lower extent to the effect expression compared to silver species, exposure time and physico-chemical composition of soil. Conclusions:The factors functionalization, concentration, exposure time, and soil texture significantly impacted the effect expression of AgNP on the soil microbial community. Especially long-term exposure scenarios are strongly needed for the reliable environmental impact assessment of AgNP exposure in various soil types. which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

BackgroundThe growing production and use of engineered AgNP in industry and private households make increasing concentrations of AgNP in the environment unavoidable. Although we already know the harmful effects of AgNP on pivotal bacterial driven soil functions, information about the impact of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) on the soil bacterial community structure is rare. Hence, the aim of this study was to reveal the long-term effects of AgNP on major soil bacterial phyla in a loamy soil. The study was conducted as a laboratory incubation experiment over a period of 1 year using a loamy soil and AgNP concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 1 mg AgNP/kg soil. Effects were quantified using the taxon-specific 16S rRNA qPCR.ResultsThe short-term exposure of AgNP at environmentally relevant concentration of 0.01 mg AgNP/kg caused significant positive effects on Acidobacteria (44.0%), Actinobacteria (21.1%) and Bacteroidetes (14.6%), whereas beta-Proteobacteria population was minimized by 14.2% relative to the control (p ≤ 0.05). After 1 year of exposure to 0.01 mg AgNP/kg diminished Acidobacteria (p = 0.007), Bacteroidetes (p = 0.005) and beta-Proteobacteria (p = 0.000) by 14.5, 10.1 and 13.9%, respectively. Actino- and alpha-Proteobacteria were statistically unaffected by AgNP treatments after 1-year exposure. Furthermore, a statistically significant regression and correlation analysis between silver toxicity and exposure time confirmed loamy soils as a sink for silver nanoparticles and their concomitant silver ions.ConclusionsEven very low concentrations of AgNP may cause disadvantages for the autotrophic ammonia oxidation (nitrification), the organic carbon transformation and the chitin degradation in soils by exerting harmful effects on the liable bacterial phyla.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12302-018-0160-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Several strains of free-living amoebae (FLA) belonging to the genus Acanthamoeba are able to cause a painful sight-threatening disease of the cornea designated as Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). In this case report, a 22-year-old woman, wearer of soft contact lenses, was treated after the initial examination, and follow-up laboratory results led to the diagnosis of Acanthamoeba keratitis. The patient recovered under the targeted therapy, demonstrating that the acanthamoebae were the etiological agents of the keratitis in this case. The acanthamoebae belonged morphologically to group II. Genotyping of the causative Acanthamoeba strain based on sequences of the PCR amplimer ASA.S1 amplified from 18S ribosomal DNA by using the genus-specific primers JDP1 and JDP2 followed. The phylogenetic comparison of ASA.S1 confirmed that the isolated Acanthamoeba strain is closely related to genotype T13 supported by pairwise sequence identities of 97.1-98.0% and bootstrap support of 980 replicates with reference sequences of genotype T13. These results regarding the Acanthamoeba keratitis-causing isolate KaBo expands the number of known pathogenic genotypes to 12. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a T13 Acanthamoeba genotype being associated with keratitis in humans.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are used in a broad range of consumer products and industrial applications. During the regular product life cycle and disposal, AgNP are continuously released into the environment. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the potential ecotoxicological effects of AgNP exposure on amoebae. The Acanthamoeba castellanii ATCC 30234 strain and environmental isolate Acanthamoeba strain C5/2, which are both affiliated with genotype T4, were chosen as representatives of ecologically important soil protozoan organisms. The amoebae were exposed to citrate‐stabilized AgNP (30 and 70 nm in size) for 24 h and 96 h at concentrations ranging from 600 µg L−1 to 20 mg L−1. A newly adopted cell culture based microscopic assay was applied to assess the adherence ability of the amoeba trophozoites. The general metabolic activity of Acanthamoeba was determined to be a second independent endpoint by means of intracellular reduction of the redox dye AlamarBlue®. The fate of AgNP within the amoebae and test solutions was visualized by light‐ and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both Acanthamoeba strains showed a significant dose‐dependent decrease of adherence ability (p < 0.04) and metabolic activity (p < 0.01) after 96 h of AgNP exposure. The environmental Acanthamoeba strain C5/2 lost both its adherence ability and metabolic activity at lower AgNP concentrations than the type strain, indicating a higher sensitivity to ionic silver. This was confirmed by the application of AgNO3, provoking a higher effect level in strain C5/2. AgNP was visualized intracellularly by transmission electron microscopy within the cytoplasm of Acanthamoeba. This is the first report to show the ecotoxicological effects of short‐term AgNP exposure on the soil protist Acanthamoeba, causing both changes in the adherence ability and metabolic activity of this amoeba. This combined approach may be a powerful tool in the future for predicting potential harmful ecotoxicological effects of AgNP exposure using soil protozoans.