Creation of an Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) for Cd, Cu and Zn mixture toxicity on Arabidopsis roots.

Metal contamination is a major environmental concern in many industrialized and developing countries since metals enrich in the food chain, creating threats for human and animal health. Metal-risk assessments in soil are mostly based on the effects of single metals, while contaminated soils are frequently characterized by multi-metal contaminations. Even though metals may cause no or very limited observable effects when applied individually, the combination of different chemicals can produce significant toxic effects. There is thus an increased need to understand how metals act together in mixtures and how these should be handled in regulatory risk assessment. Plant toxicity tests mainly use 1 metal and assess general endpoints and often do not provide any insight into the effect on the underlying biological processes that lead to the observed effects, making comparison of the effects of different metals, supplied as singles or mixtures, difficult. We will use Arabidopsis as model plant to perform analysis of the effects of Cd, Cu and Zn at the transcriptome, proteome, metabolome and cellular physiology level using state of the art technology. This systems biology approach will allow us to integrate the data obtained at the different organisation levels of the root and to create a series of events in order to explain the observed effect of metal addition on Arabidopsis root growth. This formation of an 'adverse outcome pathway', used for animal systems, is novel for plants.

Keywords:METAL POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENTAL STRESS, ARABIDOPSIS

Disciplines:General biology, Plant biology