Professional paper
CHANGES IN EXPRESSION OF PLANT PROTEINS INDUCED BY SILVER NANOPARTICLES
Biljana Balen
orcid.org/0000-0002-3745-9865
; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Nanotechnology is the latest in a long series of technologies which announces new era of technologies-driven prosperity. The small size of nanoparticles (NPs), with at least one dimension between 1 and 100 nm, results in unique chemical and physical characteristics, which is why they are being produced in large quantities for implementation in various consumer products. Among different available NPs, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are the dominating nanomaterial because of well-known silver antibacterial and antifungal properties. Due to widespread use and exposure to these nanomaterials, there is ever-growing concern regarding their potential detrimental impacts on the environment. Although there have been quite a number of toxicological studies published on AgNPs, it is still difficult to draw definite conclusions about their toxicity. As soon as AgNPs are released into the environment, they start to transform, which modifies their properties influencing their transport, fate and possible toxicity. As primary producers plants are the vital part of healthy ecosystems but also play a significant role in transport and bioaccumulation of possibly toxic substances into food chains. Toxicological studies of AgNPs conducted on plants are scare and inconclusive. Moreover, there is a lack of information about AgNPs-induced effects on important cellular processes. Therefore, in this research we aim to reveal and explain the toxicity of a set of diverse AgNPs to plants, onion and tobacco, in order to contribute to the environmental hazard assessment of AgNPs as well as to the basic knowledge about the mechanisms of their toxicity. We want to establish the possible proteomic changes upon exposure to treatments with AgNPs. The results will be used to define biomarkers of AgNP-induced phytotoxicity, which could be useful for environmental biomonitoring. Obtained results can also be applied to estimate the possibility of use and safety of AgNPs implemented in agricultural products, such as fertilizers and pesticides.
Keywords
abiotic stress; nanosilver; proteins; electrophoresis; mass spectrometry
Hrčak ID:
171180
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2016.
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