title: Investigating the environmental factors affecting the toxicity of silver nanoparticles in Escherichia coli with dual fluorescence analysis.
abstract: Flow cytometric investigation of the toxic effects of nanoparticles on bacteria is highly challenging and not sensitive due to the interference of aggregated nanoparticles: aggregated nanoparticles and bacteria are similar in size. In this study, an optimized dual fluorescence flow cytometric analysis was developed using PI-Lac::GFP (propidium iodide stained Escherichia coli (lac::GFP)) to monitor the toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). As compared with single fluorescence analysis, the dual fluorescence analysis enabled more accurate evaluation of the toxic effects of AgNPs. We used this dual fluorescence analysis to investigate how AgNPs toxicity was affected by two typical environmental factors, divalent metal ions and surfactants. Our data revealed that Cu(2+) and SDS significantly enhanced the toxicity of AgNPs in a dose-dependent manner. SDS enhanced the toxicity of both AgNPs and Ag(+) ions, whereas Cu(2+) increased the toxicity of AgNPs but not dissolved Ag(+) ions. Our results suggest that this dual fluorescence analysis can be used to evaluate the toxicity of AgNPs accurately and sensitively.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Luzhi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Junting
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Xuanyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Shengmin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Guoping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China. Electronic address: anxu@ipp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology of Anhui Province, Hefei, Anhui, PR China. Electronic address: spchen035@ipp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Shaopeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects*; D005453:Fluorescence; D007477:Ions; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D012834:Silver / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007477:Ions; D012834:Silver
keywords: Dual fluorescence analysis; Environmental factor; Silver nanoparticles; Toxic effects