Response to multigenerational graphene oxide exposure in acheta domesticus strains selected for longevity

The development of new nanotechnologies and their use in everyday life always carries the risk of environmental hazards and consequences for human health. Among them, graphene oxide (GO) is a promising material. Due to its excellent physicochemical properties, GO is attractive not only for industrial applications but also in medicine. There is still a lack of sufficient reports on the long-term effects of GO on organisms, including studies of a multigenerational nature. We investigated the health status of two strains of Acheta domesticus: the wild type and the long-lived. The strains were exposed to GO for five generations and a sixth recovery generation. We investigated parameters that may indirectly explain the mechanisms involved in transmitting the informational pattern of the stress response to subsequent generations: DNA stability, mitochondrial potential, apoptosis, and autophagy. GO intoxication induced multilevel cellular responses in five subsequent generations. GO cessation in recovery F5 acted as a new stressor. Across five generations, variation in the response to GO was observed. GO is most likely responsible for changes that persist over generations. We believe that epigenetic inheritance is a likely mechanism underlying the multigenerational adaptation observed in GO-exposed insects, and future research should aim to elucidate this phenomenon in more detail.