Assessing the influence of the genetically modified factor on mixture toxicological interactions in Caenorhabditis...

How to evaluate the ecological risk of transgenic technology is a focus of scientists because of the safety concerns raised by genetically modified (GM) organisms. Nevertheless, most studies are based on individual chemicals and always analyze the GM organism as a type of toxicant. In this study, we changed the approach and used GM organisms as the test objects with normal chemical exposure. Three types of chemicals (two substituted phenols, 4-chlorophenol and 4-nitrophenol; two ionic liquids, 1-butylpyridinium chloride and 1-butylpyridinium bromide; two pesticides, dichlorvos and glyphosate) were used to construct a six-component mixture system. The lethality to wild-type (N2) and sod-3::GFP (SOD-3) Caenorhabditis elegans was determined when they were exposed to the same mixture system after 12 and 24 h. The results showed that the pEC50 values of all of the single chemicals on SOD-3 were greater than those on N2 at 24 h. The toxicities of the single chemicals and nine mixture rays on the two strains increased with time. Notably, we discovered a significant difference between the two strains; time-dependent synergism occurred in mixtures on N2, but time-dependent antagonism occurred in mixtures on SOD-3. Finally, the strength of the synergism or antagonism turned to additive action on the two strains as the exposure time increased. These findings illustrated that the GM factor of the nematode influenced the mixture toxicological interaction at some exposure times. Compared with N2, SOD-3 were more sensitive to stress or toxic reactions. Therefore, the influence of the GM factor on mixture toxicological interactions in environmental risk assessment must be considered.