Influence of Metal Nanoparticles on the Soil Microbial Community and Germination of Lettuce Seeds

Short term influence of silica, palladium, gold and copper nanoparticles on a soil microbial community and the germination of lettuce seeds are investigated in this study at two different concentrations of nanoparticles. Results show a statistically insignificant influence of the nanoparticles in the soil on the number of colony forming units, peak areas of methyl ester of fatty acids in the FAME profile or on the total soil community metabolic fingerprint (P > 0.05). Also, all nanoparticles tested in the study influenced the growth of lettuce seeds as measured through shoot/root ratios of the germinated plant (P < 0.05).