Zanelli Davide, Candotto Carniel Fabio, Garrido Marina, Fortuna Lorenzo, Nepi Massimo, Cai Giampiero, Del Casino Cecilia, Vázquez Ester, Prato Maurizio, Tretiach Mauro
Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, via L. Giorgieri 10, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.
Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, University of Trieste, via L. Giorgieri 1, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2020 Sep 19;10(9):1877. doi: 10.3390/nano10091877.
Products containing graphene-related materials (GRMs) are becoming quite common, raising concerns for environmental safety. GRMs have varying effects on plants, but their impact on the sexual reproduction process is largely unknown. In this study, the effects of few-layer graphene (FLG) and a similarly layered phyllosilicate, muscovite mica (MICA), were tested in vivo on the reproductive structures, i.e., pollen and stigma, of L. ssp. '' (summer squash, zucchini). Pollen was exposed to FLG or MICA, after careful physical-chemical characterization, at concentrations of 0.5 and 2 mg of nanomaterial (NM) per g of pollen for up to six hours. Following this, pollen viability was tested. Stigmas were exposed to FLG or MICA for three hours and then analyzed by environmental scanning electron microscopy to verify possible alterations to their surface. Stigmas were then hand-pollinated to verify the effects of the two NMs on pollen adhesion and in vivo pollen germination. FLG and MICA altered neither pollen viability nor the stigmatic surface. However, both NMs equivalently decreased pollen adhesion and in vivo germination compared with untreated stigmas. These effects deserve further attention as they could impact on production of fruits and seeds. Importantly, it was shown that FLG is as safe as a naturally occurring nanomaterial.
含有石墨烯相关材料（GRMs）的产品正变得相当普遍，这引发了对环境安全的担忧。GRMs对植物有不同影响，但其对有性生殖过程的影响在很大程度上尚不清楚。在本研究中，对少层石墨烯（FLG）和类似层状的层状硅酸盐白云母（MICA）在西葫芦（L. ssp. '' ，夏南瓜、西葫芦）的生殖结构即花粉和柱头进行了体内测试。在经过仔细的物理化学表征后，将花粉暴露于浓度为每克花粉0.5毫克和2毫克纳米材料（NM）的FLG或MICA中长达6小时。之后，测试花粉活力。将柱头暴露于FLG或MICA中3小时，然后通过环境扫描电子显微镜进行分析，以验证其表面可能的变化。然后对柱头进行人工授粉，以验证这两种纳米材料对花粉粘附和体内花粉萌发的影响。FLG和MICA既未改变花粉活力，也未改变柱头表面。然而，与未处理的柱头相比，这两种纳米材料均同等程度地降低了花粉粘附和体内萌发。这些影响值得进一步关注，因为它们可能会影响果实和种子的产量。重要的是，研究表明FLG与天然存在的纳米材料一样安全。
