A genome-wide approach in Arabidopsis thaliana to assess the toxicity of cadmium sulfide quantum dots

Cadmium sulfide quantum dots (CdS QDs) are widely used in novel equipment. The relevance of the research lies in the need to develop risk assessments for nanomaterials, using as basis a model plant species. Here a screen of Arabidopsis thaliana mutant lines was performed in an attempt to identify plants tolerant to CdS QDs. Two tolerant Ds insertion mutant lines (atnp01 and atnp02) were identified. A whole-genome microarray experiment showed how genes were regulated by CdS QDs. Most of the genes involved in the response to CdS QDs were related to detoxification and general metabolism. The two mutant lines treated with CdS QDs showed different patterns of gene expression. The genome-wide expression profile of seedlings of the two selected resistant mutants were acquired and compared to that of wild type seedlings using the Arabidopsis ATH1 Genome Array. The wild type seedlings were exposed to either 0 mg/L, 40 mg/L (1/2 MIC) or 80 mg/L (MIC wt) CdS QDs, and each of the resistant/tolerant mutant line plants to either 0 mg/L or 80 mg/L CdS QDs for 21 days.