Methane oxidation and abundance of methane oxidizers in tropical agricultural soil (vertisol) in response to CuO and ZnO nanoparticles contamination

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment 2014-06, Vol.186 (6), p.3743-3753
• Main Authors: Mohanty, Santosh Ranjan, Rajput, Parul, Kollah, Bharati, Chourasiya, Dipanti, Tiwari, Archana, Singh, Muneshwar, Rao, A Subba
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abundance; Agricultural land; Agriculture; Ammonium; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Climate change; Copper - analysis; Copper - chemistry; COPPER ALLOYS (10 TO 40 CU); COPPER OXIDE; Correlation analysis; CUPRIC OXIDE; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecological effects; Ecological function; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental hazards; Environmental Management; Environmental monitoring; Environmental science; Environmental studies; Greenhouse gases; Heavy metals; India; Metal concentrations; Metals; METHANE; Methane - analysis; Methane - chemistry; MICRO ORGANISMS; Microbial activity; Microorganisms; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - analysis; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Oxidation; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidizers; Particle size; PARTICLES; POLLUTION; Principal components analysis; Soil (material); Soil - chemistry; Soil contamination; Soil moisture; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil Pollutants - chemistry; Soil sciences; SOILS; Terrestrial ecosystems; Toxicity; Variance analysis; ZINC OXIDE; Zinc Oxide - analysis; Zinc Oxide - chemistry; Zinc oxides
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-014-3654-4

There is worldwide concern over the increase use of nanoparticles (NPs) and their ecotoxicological effect. It is not known if the annual production of tons of industrial nanoparticles (NPs) has the potential to impact terrestrial microbial communities, which are so necessary for ecosystem functioning. Here, we have examined the consequences of adding the NPs particularly the metal oxide (CuO, ZnO) on CH 4 oxidation activity in vertisol and the abundance of heterotrophs, methane oxidizers, and ammonium oxidizers. Soil samples collected from the agricultural field located at Madhya Pradesh, India, were incubated with either CuO and ZnO NPs or ionic heavy metals (CuCl 2 , ZnCl 2 ) separately at 0, 10, and 20 μg g −1 soil. CH 4 oxidation activity in the soil samples was estimated at 60 and 100 % moisture holding capacity (MHC) in order to link soil moisture regime with impact of NPs. NPs amended to soil were highly toxic for the microbial-mediated CH 4 oxidation, compared with the ionic form. The trend of inhibition was Zn 20 > Zn 10 > Cu 20 > Cu 10. NPs delayed the lag phase of CH 4 oxidation to a maximum of 4-fold and also decreased the apparent rate constant k up to 50 % over control. ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis (α = 0.01) revealed significant impact of NPs on the CH 4 oxidation activity and microbial abundance ( p