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Physiological and Molecular Response of Arabidopsis thaliana to CuO Nanoparticle (nCuO) Exposure

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Abstract

The widespread application of copper oxide nanoparticles (nCuO) results in ecological risk when nanoparticles enter the environment. This study clarifies the mechanism of nCuO toxicity in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings via comparison with copper (Cu) ion bioeffects. Under the same culture conditions, Cu2+ ion exposure exerted a stronger inhibitory effect on plant fresh weight and growth and caused stronger oxidative disruption (measured by malondialdehyde, MDA) than nCuO exposure. The Cu2+ ions also showed a stronger induction effect than did nCuO on the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the transcription of antioxidant-related genes. Dissolved Cu2+ ions contributed a minority of the toxicity of nCuO, implying that nCuO itself showed relative strong phytotoxicity. The work presented here will help increase our understanding of the toxicity of metal nanoparticles in plants.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21577128), and a One Hundred Talents Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences grant to H.F. Qian, and Xingjiang Uighur Autonomous Region Talent Project to H.F. Qian.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, People’s Republic of China

    Mingjing Ke, Youchao Zhu, Meng Zhang, Hailiqieguli Gumai, Zhenyan Zhang, Junjie Xu & Haifeng Qian

  2. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Bioremediation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, People’s Republic of China

    Haifeng Qian

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  1. Mingjing Ke
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  2. Youchao Zhu
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  3. Meng Zhang
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  4. Hailiqieguli Gumai
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  5. Zhenyan Zhang
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  6. Junjie Xu
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  7. Haifeng Qian
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Correspondence to Haifeng Qian.

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Ke, M., Zhu, Y., Zhang, M. et al. Physiological and Molecular Response of Arabidopsis thaliana to CuO Nanoparticle (nCuO) Exposure. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 99, 713–718 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-017-2205-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-017-2205-4

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