Assessing response to C60 fullerene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and E. coli

ENVR 54

Alex Hadduck, hadducka@onid.orst.edu1, Vihangi Hindagolla, hindagov@onid.orst.edu1, Bin Xie, bin.xie@rice.edu2, Qilin Li, ql4216@rice.edu2, and Alan T. Bakalinsky, alan.bakalinsky@oregonstate.edu1. (1) Food Science and Technology, Oregon State University, Wiegand Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331-6602, (2) Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005
Continuing rapid growth of the nanotechnology industry is expected to lead to a proportional increase in environmental exposure to nanomaterials derived from consumer products and industrial applications. In order to assess potential toxicity and to determine mechanisms through which one such material may elicit toxic responses, cell yield and survival of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and E. coli were determined in the presence of C60 fullerene. Aqueous C60 fullerene nanoparticles (nC60) at 31 µg/ml exhibited no observable effect on yeast cell yield in minimal medium relative to control cells. At 32 µg/ml, yeast survival was either slightly greater or unaffected relative to control cells. nC60 at 26 micrograms/ml exhibited no observable effect on cell yield of E. coli in reduced phosphate mininimal medium. Survival of E. coli exposed to 30 µg/ml fullerene was reduced by 50% in 0.9% saline inoculated with 7 x 105 cells/ml, but not when inoculated with 10 or 100 times more cells.