Profiling differentially expressed earthworm genes in response to TNT, RDX, or TNT+RDX exposure.

To understand molecular mechanisms of the joint effects of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), both widely used ordnance compounds, we constructed a microarray consisting of 4,032 cDNA isolated from the earthworm Eisenia fetida using the suppressive subtractive hybridization technique. Worms were exposed to TNT-, RDX-, or TNT+RDX-spiked soil for 28 days (TNT 50 mg/kg, RDX 30 mg/kg). Keywords: Combined toxicity of TNT and RDX to earthworm (Eisenia fetida) We analyzed 40 arrays for 4 treatments (control, TNT 50ppm, RDX 30ppm, TNT 50ppm + RDX 30ppm) with 5 biological replicates per treatment using an interwoven loop design.