Oxidative Stress Response and Biofilm Formation under the Effect of Pristine and Modified Carbon Nanotubes.

The article investigates the expression of and oxidative stress genes in under the effect of pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), MWCNTs and SWCNTs functionalized with carboxyl groups (MWCNTs-COOH and SWCNTs-COOH, respectively), SWCNTs functionalized with amino groups (SWCNTs-NH) and SWCNTs functionalized with octadecylamine (SWCNTs-ODA). Significant differences were found in the expression of the gene, while no changes were observed in the expression level of the gene. The pro-oxidant effect of SWCNTs, SWCNTs-COOH, SWCNTs-NH, and SWCNTs-ODA is presented, and the contrary antioxidant effect of pristine MWCNTs and MWCNTs-COOH in the presence of methyl viologen hydrate (paraquat) is shown. The article shows that SWCNTs-COOH, SWCNTs-NH, and SWCNTs-ODA added to the medium generate the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in bacterial cells. SWCNTs-COOH intensified the biofilm formation, and the biofilm biomass exceeded the control by 25 times. Additionally, it is shown that the expression increased in response to MWCNTs-COOH and SWCNTs-COOH, and the effect of SWCNTs-COOH was more significant. SWCNTs-COOH and SWCNTs-NH initiated an increase in ATP concentration in the planktonic cells and a decrease in the biofilm cells. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) method showed that the volume of planktonic cells after the exposure to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) decreased compared to that without exposure, mainly due to a decrease in cell height. The absence of a strong damaging effect of functionalized SWCNTs on K12 cells, both in suspension and in biofilms, is shown. Contact with functionalized SWCNTs initiated the aggregation of the polymeric substances of the biofilms; however, the cells did not lyse. Among the studied CNTs, SWCNTs-COOH caused an increased expression of the and , the formation of ROS, and stimulation of the biofilm formation.