Currently, little is known about the impact of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on ecologically important microorganisms such as ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria (AOB). We performed a multi‐analytical approach to demonstrate the effects of uncapped nanosilver (uAgNP), capped nanosilver (cAgNP) and Ag₂SO₄ on the activities of the AOB: Nitrosomonas europaea, Nitrosospira multiformis and Nitrosococcus oceani, and the growth of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis as model bacterial systems in relation to AgNP type and concentration. All Ag treatments caused significant inhibition to the nitrification potential rates (NPRs) of Nitrosomonas europaea (decreased from 34 to < 16.7 μM NH₄⁺ oxidized day⁻¹), Nitrosospira multiformis (decreased from 46 to < 24.8 μM NH₄⁺ oxidized day⁻¹) and Nitrosococcus oceani (decreased from 26 to < 18.4 μM NH₄⁺ oxidized day⁻¹). Escherichia coli‐Ag interactions revealed that the percentage of damaged E. coli cells was 45% greater with Ag₂SO₄, 39% with cAgNPs and 33% with uAgNPs compared with controls. Generally, the inhibitory effect on AOB NPRs and E. coli/B. subtilis growth was in the following order Ag₂SO₄ > cAgNP > uAgNP. In conclusion, AgNPs (especially cAgNPs) and Ag₂SO₄ adversely affected AOB activities and thus have the potential to severely impact key microbially driven processes such as nitrification in the environment.

中文翻译：

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工程银纳米颗粒对重要生态微生物的生长和活性的影响。

目前，关于纳米银（AgNPs）对具有生态重要性的微生物（例如氨氧化细菌（AOB））的影响知之甚少。我们进行了一项多分析方法来证明未加帽的纳米银（uAgNP）的影响，封端的纳米银（cAgNP）和Ag ₂ SO ₄上该AOB的活动：Ñ itrosomonas油橄榄，Ñ itrosospira multiformis和Ñ itrosococcus oceani，和生长的Ë scherichia大肠杆菌和乙芽孢杆菌作为模型细菌系统的AgNP类型和浓度。造成所有的Ag处理显著抑制到硝化电位率（的NPR）ñ itrosomonas油橄榄（从34降低到<16.7μMNH ₄ ⁺氧化天^-1），Ñ itrosospira multiformis（从46至<24.8μMNH降低₄ ⁺氧化的天^-1）和ñ itrosococcus oceani（从26降低到<18.4μMNH ₄ ⁺氧化天^-1）。Ë scherichia大肠杆菌-银相互作用透露，受损的百分比Ë。与对照组相比，含Ag ₂ SO _4的大肠杆菌细胞增加了45％，含cAgNPs的细菌增加了39％，含uAgNPs的细菌增加了33％。通常，对AOB NPR和E的抑制作用。大肠杆菌/乙。枯草杆菌的生长按以下顺序排列：Ag ₂ SO ₄  > cAgNP> uAgNP。总之，AgNPs（尤其是cAgNPs）和Ag ₂ SO ₄对AOB活性有不利影响，因此有可能严重影响关键的微生物驱动过程，例如环境中的硝化。