Nanoparticle-specific changes in Arabidopsis thaliana gene expression after exposure to ZnO, TiO2, and fullerene soot

Landa P., Vaňková R., Andrlová J., Hodek J., Maršík P., Štorchová H., White J.C., Vaněk T.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 241– 242: 55– 62, 2012

Keywords: Microarray, Nanoparticles, Gene expression, Stress reaction, Arabidopsis
Abstract: The effect of exposure to 100 mg/L zinc oxide (nZnO), fullerene soot (FS) or titanium dioxide (nTiO2) nanoparticles on gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana roots was studied using microarrays. After 7 d, nZnO, FS, or nTiO2 exposure resulted in 660 up- and 826 down-regulated genes, 232 up- and 189 downregulated genes, and 80 up- and 74 down-regulated genes, respectively (expression difference > 2-fold; p[t test] < 0.05). The genes induced by nZnO and FS include mainly ontology groups annotated as stress responsive, including both abiotic (oxidative, salt, water deprivation) and biotic (wounding and defense to pathogens) stimuli. The down-regulated genes upon nZnO exposure were involved in cell organization and biogenesis, including translation, nucleosome assembly and microtubule based process. FS largely repressed the transcription of genes involved in electron transport and energy pathways. Only mild changes in gene expression were observed upon nTiO2 exposure, which resulted in up- and downregulation of genes involved mainly in responses to biotic and abiotic stimuli. The data clearly indicate that the mechanisms of phytotoxicity are highly nanoparticle dependent despite of a limited overlap in gene expression response.
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IEB authors: Přemysl Landa, Petr Maršík, Helena Štorchová, Tomáš Vaněk, Radomíra Vanková