title: Transcriptome Profiling of Wheat Seedlings following Treatment with Ultrahigh Diluted Arsenic Trioxide.
abstract: Plant systems are useful research tools to address basic questions in homeopathy as they make it possible to overcome some of the drawbacks encountered in clinical trials (placebo effect, ethical issues, duration of the experiment, and high costs). The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis whether 7-day-old wheat seedlings, grown from seeds either poisoned with a sublethal dose of As2O3 or unpoisoned, showed different significant gene expression profiles after the application of ultrahigh diluted As2O3 (beyond Avogadro's limit) compared to water (control). The results provided evidence for a strong gene modulating effect of ultrahigh diluted As2O3 in seedlings grown from poisoned seeds: a massive reduction of gene expression levels to values comparable to those of the control group was observed for several functional classes of genes. A plausible hypothesis is that ultrahigh diluted As2O3 treatment induced a reequilibration of those genes that were upregulated during the oxidative stress by bringing the expression levels closer to the basal levels normally occurring in the control plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3630-5861
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Marotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucietta
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Betti
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4686-4504
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bregola
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2722-8390
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bosi
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Grazia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trebbi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "La Sapienza" University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borghini
authors.affiliation: Italian National Health System, Lombardy District, "Azienda Sanitaria Locale" Milan, Corso Italia 19, 20122 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nani
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dinelli