Soil acidification enhancing the growth and metabolism inhibition of PFOS and Cr(VI) to bacteria involving oxidative stress and cell permeability

Soil acidification is causing more and more attention, not only because of the harm of acidification itself, but also the greater harm to bacteria brought by some pollutants under acidic condition. Therefore, the toxicities of two typical soil pollutants (perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and chromium (Cr(VI)) to growth and metabolisms of soil bacteria (Bacillus subtilis as modol) were investigated. Under acidic condition of pH = 5, Cr(VI), PFOS and PFOS + Cr(VI) show stronge inhibition to bacteria growth up to 24.3%, 42.3%, 41.6%, respectively, and this inhibition was about 2-3 times of that at pH = 7. Moreover, acid stress reduces the metabolism of bacteria, while PFOS and Cr(VI) pollution futher strengthens this metabolic inhibition involving oxidative stress and cell permeability. The activities of dehydrogenase (DHA) and electron transport system (ETS) at pH = 5 exposed to Cr(VI), PFOS and combined PFOS + Cr(VI) was 21.5%, 16.9%, 23.2% and 8.9%, 32.2%, 19.1% lower than the control, respectively. However, the relative activity of DHA and ETS at pH = 7 are 5-8 and 2-13 times of that at pH = 5, respectively. Isoelectric point, cell surface hydrophobicity and molecular simulation analysis show that the corresponding mechanism is that acidic conditions enhance the interaction between bacteria and PFOS/Cr(VI) through hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. The results can guide the remediation of acid soil pollution, and provide a reference for the combined toxicity evaluation of heavy metals and micro-pollutants in acid soil. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Soil acidification is receiving increasing attention due to its harm to bacteria and the enhanced toxicity of pollutants such as PFOS and Cr(VI) under acidic conditions. The study found that under pH = 5, PFOS and Cr(VI) significantly inhibited the growth and metabolism of soil bacteria, indicating the need for remediation strategies for acid soil pollution.