Phytotoxic and genotoxic effects of silver nanoparticles exposure on germinating wheat seedlings

We investigated the effects of 1 and 10mgL-1 AgNPs on germinating Triticum aestivum L. seedlings. The exposure to 10mgL-1 AgNPs adversely affected the seedling growth and induced morphological modifications in root tip cells. TEM analysis suggests that the observed effects were due primarily to the release of Ag ions from AgNPs. To gain an increased understanding of the molecular response to AgNP exposure, we analyzed the genomic and proteomic changes induced by AgNPs in wheat seedlings. At the DNA level, we applied the AFLP technique and we found that both treatments did not induce any significant DNA polymorphisms. 2DE profiling of roots and shoots treated with 10mgL-1 of AgNPs revealed an altered expression of several proteins mainly involved in primary metabolism and cell defense.