Effect of chromium oxide (III) nanoparticles on the production of reactive oxygen species and photosystem II activity in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Cristina Henning da Costa, Francois Perreault, Abdallah Oukarroum, Sílvia Pedroso Melegari, Radovan Popovic, William Gerson Matias

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

75 Scopus citations

Abstract

With the growth of nanotechnology and widespread use of nanomaterials, there is an increasing risk of environmental contamination by nanomaterials. However, the potential implications of such environmental contamination are hard to evaluate since the toxicity of nanomaterials if often not well characterized. The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of a chromium-based nanoparticle, Cr2O3-NP, used in a wide diversity of industrial processes and commercial products, on the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The deleterious impacts of Cr2O3-NP were characterized using cell density measurements, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), esterase enzymes activity, and photosystem II electron transport as indicators of toxicity. Cr2O3-NP exposure inhibited culture growth and significantly lowered cellular Chlorophyll a content. From cell density measurements, EC50 values of 2.05 ± 0.20 and 1.35 ± 0.06 g L− 1 Cr2O3-NP were obtained after 24 and 72 h of exposure, respectively. In addition, ROS levels were increased to 160.24 ± 2.47% and 59.91 ± 0.15% of the control value after 24 and 72 h of exposition to 10 g L− 1 Cr2O3-NP. At 24 h of exposure, the esterase activity increased to 160.24% of control value, revealing a modification of the short-term metabolic response of algae to Cr2O3-NP exposure. In conclusion, the metabolism of C. reinhardtii was the most sensitive to Cr2O3-NP after 24 h of treatment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)951-960
Number of pages10
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume565
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 18 2015

Keywords

  • Cell viability
  • Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
  • Chromium oxide nanoparticles
  • Nanotoxicology
  • Oxidative stress

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Waste Management and Disposal
  • Pollution

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