Titanium oxide nanoparticle effects on composition of soil microbial communities and plant performance

We examined the effect of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) on the growth of maize and soybean plants and associated soil microbial communities. Plants were grown in a greenhouse, and low levels of undoped or nitrogen-doped TiO2 NPs were applied. Plant growth and nutrient content were determined, and effects of NPs on composition of soil microbial communities were examined using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (TRFLP) of rDNA. We found no significant effects of TiO2 NPs on plant growth, nutrient content, or the composition of bacterial communities within the rhizosphere. However, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities were affected by application of undoped and nitrogen-doped TiO2 NPs. This observation may be partially attributed to the small but significant TiO2 NP uptake levels in the root tissues of both plants. Our results suggest that even low concentrations of TiO2 NPs may influence some important groups of soil microbes, such as mycorrhizal fungi, but changes in the composition of microbial communities may not affect plant growth under conditions of adequate moisture and nutrients.