Biological effect of aqueous C60aggregates on Scenedesmus obliquus revealed by transcriptomics and non-targeted metabolomics.
This work evaluated biological effect of nC60on Scenedesmus obliquus. The cells were exposed to various concentrations of nC60for 7days. Low-dose of nC60was found to have a minor growth inhibitory effect. The transcriptomics and metabolomics were integrated to examine intricate molecular and cellular effects of nC60on Scenedesmus obliquus. We found that Scenedesmus obliquus cells exposed to nC60had several significant alterations in cellular transcription and biochemical processes. During the 7-day exposure to nC60, 2234 and 2,448 unigenes were differentially expressed by 0.1mg/L and 1mg/L nC60-treated groups compared with the control, including 2085 or 2247 up-regulated genes and 149 or 201 down-regulated genes, respectively. We successfully identified 22 metabolites, including 6 significantly changed metabolites, such as sucrose, d-glucose, and malic acid. The citrate cycle (TCA cycle) (ko00020) was the main target of both differentially expressed genes and metabolic change. However, accumulation of sucrose (end-product) could have induced feedback inhibition of photosynthesis in Scenedesmus obliquus, explaining the slight growth inhibition observed. The results provided a mechanistic understanding of the growth inhibition of nC60toxicity. These genes and metabolites are useful biomarkers for future studies and offer new insights into the early detectable changes in Scenedesmus obliquus with nC60exposure.
School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China.
Chunlei
C
Du
School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China. Electronic address: zhangbo214@sjtu.edu.cn.
Bo
B
Zhang
School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China.
Yiliang
Y
He
Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Minghan District, Shanghai 200240, China.
Chaoyang
C
Hu
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore.
Qin Xiang
QX
Ng
NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore117597, Singapore.
Hui
H
Zhang
NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore117597, Singapore.
Choon Nam
CN
Ong
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
ZhifenLin
D037741:Fullerenes / Q000633:toxicity*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D055432:Metabolomics; D044444:Scenedesmus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000187:drug effects; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
D037741:Fullerenes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C069837:fullerene C60
Metabolomics; NC(60); Scenedesmus obliquus; Transcriptomics