Project description:The current study deals to decipher the antibacterial mechanism of lysozyme coated silver nanoparticles (L-Ag NPs) (coated with lysozyme) against a Gram negative modal organism Escherichia coli K12 (MTCC 1302). Hence, the whole transcriptome profiling of E. coli K12 was done by exposing it to the MIC75 concentration of L-Ag NPs for 5 and 30 min., by RNA sequencing (RNAseq) analysis. The obtained results were utilized to understand all the metabolic pathways, signaling and molecular functions in bacterial cells under the stress of L-Ag NPs. RNAseq showed a high number of total reads along with significant ratio of high-quality reads, which confirmed the excellent quality and quantity of the obtained RNAseq data. Controlled release of ions from the surface of L-Ag NPs allowed the bacterial cells to function normally till the accumulation of threshold amount of silver ions which triggered the action of defence system, thus, reducing the chances of resistance development in bacteria. In long term, such treatment may force the bacterial machinery to induce changes in their genome to counteract the situation and develop resistance against silver ions, similar to the well-known antibiotic resistance problem. The obtained results advocate that L-Ag NPs can be used as effective antibacterial agent.
Project description:Effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on freshwater species have been reported in several studies, but there is not information on the potential long-term consequences of a previous exposure. In this work, we investigated the long-term effects of maltose-coated Ag NPs (20 nm) and of ionic silver (10 µg/L) after 21 days of exposure and at 6 months post-exposure (mpe) in adult zebrafish. Exposure resulted in significant silver accumulation in the whole body of fish exposed to ionic silver, but not in those exposed to Ag NPs. However, autometallography revealed metal accumulation in the liver and intestine of fish treated with the two silver forms and especially in the intestine of fish exposed to Ag NPs. X-ray microanalysis showed the presence of silver in gills, liver and intestine and of Ag NPs in gill and liver cells. Inflammation and hyperplasia were evident in the gills after both treatments and these histopathological conditions remained at 6 mpe. According to the hepatic transcriptome analysis, at 3 days ionic silver regulated a larger number of transcripts (410) than Ag NPs (129), while at 21 days Ag NPs provoked a stronger effect (799 vs 165 regulated sequences). Gene ontology terms such as “metabolic processes” and “response to stimulus” appeared enriched after all treatments, while “immune system” or “reproductive processes” were specifically enriched after the exposure to Ag NPs. This suggests that the toxicity of Ag NPs may not be solely related to the release of Ag ions, but also to the NP form. No evident effects were found on protein oxidation or on hepatocyte lysosomal membrane stability during exposure, but effects recorded on liver lysosomes and persistent damage on gill tissue at 6 mpe could indicate potential for long-term effects in exposed fish.
Project description:Proteomics was carried out to compare the proteomes of wild-type MG1655 E coli with mutants lacking either prominent sRNA, SdsR, OxyS or ZbiJ, or lacking the ubiquitous RNA chaperone proteins hfq, in bacteria that had been exposure to long-term (24hr) nitrogen starvation in Gutnick minimal media. The aim of this was to understand what the regulatory contribution of these three sRNA was to bacteria experiencing long-term nitrogen starvation.
Project description:Silver nanoparticles cause toxicity in exposed organisms and are an environmental health concern. The mechanisms of silver nanoparticle toxicity, however, remain unclear. We examined the effects of exposure to silver in nano-, bulk- and ionic forms on zebrafish embryos (Danio rerio) using a Next Generation Sequencing approach in an Illumina platform (High-Throughput SuperSAGE). Significant alterations in gene expression were found for all treatments and many of the gene pathways affected, most notably those associated with oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis, overlapped strongly between the three treatments indicating similar mechanisms of toxicity for the three forms of silver studied. Changes in oxidative phosphorylation indicated a down-regulation of this pathway at 24h of exposure, but with a recovery at 48h. This finding was consistent with a dose-dependent decrease in oxygen consumption at 24h, but not at 48h, following exposure to silver ions. Overall, our data provide support for the hypothesis that the toxicity caused by silver nanoparticles is principally associated with bioavailable silver ions in exposed zebrafish embryos. These findings are important in the evaluation of the risk that silver particles may pose to exposed vertebrate organisms. mRNA profiles of whole zebrafish embryos at 24 and 48 hours post-fertilisation (hpf) exposed to silver in nano, bulk and ionic forms were generated by deep sequencing using HT-SuperSAGE (Illumina GA2).
Project description:Purpose: Analyze changes in the transcriptome of Arabidopsis thaliana in response to sublethal concentrations of silver nanoparticles in order to gain insight into phytotoxicity caused by these nanomaterials. Methods: mRNA was extracted from non-treated and silver nanoparticle-treated 14-day old Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings using the RNAeasy extraction kit (Qiagen). RNA-seq libraries (3 rep/treatment and 3 reps/control) constructed with the TruSeq Stranded mRNA Sample Preparation kit (Illumina) were single-end sequenced (100-nt read length) on an Illumina HiSeq2500 system. Reads were mapped to the A. thaliana TAIR10 reference genome sequence and transcript levels were analyzed using the softare CLC Genomics Workbench (version 7.0.40, Qiagen). Results: Chronic exposure of A. thaliana plants to silver nanoparticles caused a change in abundance of transcripts involved in cell wall synhtesis and response to oxidative and biotic stress-related genes. Conclusions: While exposure to silver nanoparticle lead to gene expression changes, the reduction in chlorophyll concentration and carbon assimilation rate measured in exposed plants cannot be attributed to a shift in photosynthesis-related gene regulation.
Project description:Silver nanoparticles cause toxicity in exposed organisms and are an environmental health concern. The mechanisms of silver nanoparticle toxicity, however, remain unclear. We examined the effects of exposure to silver in nano-, bulk- and ionic forms on zebrafish embryos (Danio rerio) using a Next Generation Sequencing approach in an Illumina platform (High-Throughput SuperSAGE). Significant alterations in gene expression were found for all treatments and many of the gene pathways affected, most notably those associated with oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis, overlapped strongly between the three treatments indicating similar mechanisms of toxicity for the three forms of silver studied. Changes in oxidative phosphorylation indicated a down-regulation of this pathway at 24h of exposure, but with a recovery at 48h. This finding was consistent with a dose-dependent decrease in oxygen consumption at 24h, but not at 48h, following exposure to silver ions. Overall, our data provide support for the hypothesis that the toxicity caused by silver nanoparticles is principally associated with bioavailable silver ions in exposed zebrafish embryos. These findings are important in the evaluation of the risk that silver particles may pose to exposed vertebrate organisms.
Project description:From the result of the gene expression analyses of human hepatoma cell line, HepG2, a number of genes associated with cell proliferation and DNA repair were distinctively up-regulated by Ag-nanoparticle exposure, suggesting that Ag-nanoparticles might stimulate cell proliferation and DNA damage, which are considered to be mechanisms playing an important role for carcinogenesis and tumor progression. The inductions of these genes involved in cell proliferation were also observed in PS-nanoparticles and Ag2CO3-exposed cells. In addition, the inductions of DNA repair-associated genes were also observed in Ag2CO3-exposure. These results suggest that both “nanoshape” and “silver” can cause the inductions of these gene expression patterns. Furthermore, cysteine, a strong ionic silver ligand partially abolished these gene expressions induced by silver nanoparticles. Ionic silver sourced from Ag-nanoparticles could not fully explain these gene expressions.
Project description:RNA-seq was carried out to compare the transcriptomes of wild-type MG1655 E coli with mutant lacking the prominent RNA chaperone, Hfq, in bacteria that had been exposed to short-term (20min, N-) and long-term (24hr, N-24) nitrogen starvation, and following replenishment of nitrogen to long-term starved bacteria (~2hrs, N-24+2) in Gutnick minimal media. The aim of this was to understand what the regulatory contribution of Hfq was to bacteria experiencing nitrogen starvation.
Project description:RNA-seq was carried out to compare the transcriptomes of wild-type MG1655 E coli with mutant lacking the prominent sRNA, SdsR, in bacteria that had been exposed to long-term (24hr) nitrogen starvation in Gutnick minimal media. The aim of this was to understand what the regulatory contribution of SdsR was to bacteria experiencing long-term nitrogen starvation.