Assessment of the relative toxicity of Cu2+ by measuring structural changes of supercoiled DNA |
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Authors: | Pan Gang Chang Guohua Chen Hao Giusti Lorenzo |
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Institution: | State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Shuangqing Road, Beijing 100085, China. gpan@rcees.ac.cn |
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Abstract: | A method for the measurement of the relative toxicity of Cu2+ in aquatic environments is proposed. It is based on the quantitative measurement on the shape change of the supercoiled DNA after it is contacted with different levels of Cu2+ for various time intervals. In the absence of any redox reagents, all supercoiled DNA degraded into other forms of DNA after 24h incubation in the presence of 5.13 x 10(-3), 5.08 x 10(-4) and 5.35 x 10(-5)mol/L Cu2+. At a lower Cu2+ concentration (10(-6)mol/L), 44% of supercoiled DNA retained its original supercoiled form after 24 h, and 29% after 48 h. The concentration of RC50, i.e. concentration of pollutants at which 50% of the supercoiled DNA was relaxed compared to control samples, can be obtained from the does-response curves at different exposure time, which may provide a rapid and convenient approach to assess the relative toxicity of environmental pollutants. |
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