Integrated bioinformatics analysis of As, Au, Cd, Pb and Cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through Arabidopsis thaliana GEO datasets

Background Current environmental pollution factors, particularly the distribution and diffusion of heavy metals in soil and water, are a high risk to local environments and humans. Despite striking advances in methods to detect contaminants by a variety of chemical and physical solutions, these meth...

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Main Authors: Chao Niu, Min Jiang, Na Li, Jianguo Cao, Meifang Hou, Di-an Ni, Zhaoqing Chu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2019-03-01
Series:PeerJ
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/6495.pdf
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author Chao Niu
Min Jiang
Na Li
Jianguo Cao
Meifang Hou
Di-an Ni
Zhaoqing Chu
author_facet Chao Niu
Min Jiang
Na Li
Jianguo Cao
Meifang Hou
Di-an Ni
Zhaoqing Chu
author_sort Chao Niu
collection DOAJ
description Background Current environmental pollution factors, particularly the distribution and diffusion of heavy metals in soil and water, are a high risk to local environments and humans. Despite striking advances in methods to detect contaminants by a variety of chemical and physical solutions, these methods have inherent limitations such as small dimensions and very low coverage. Therefore, identifying novel contaminant biomarkers are urgently needed. Methods To better track heavy metal contaminations in soil and water, integrated bioinformatics analysis to identify biomarkers of relevant heavy metal, such as As, Cd, Pb and Cu, is a suitable method for long-term and large-scale surveys of such heavy metal pollutants. Subsequently, the accuracy and stability of the results screened were experimentally validated by quantitative PCR experiment. Results We obtained 168 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) which contained 59 up-regulated genes and 109 down-regulated genes through comparative bioinformatics analyses. Subsequently, the gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichments of these DEGs were performed, respectively. GO analyses found that these DEGs were mainly related to responses to chemicals, responses to stimulus, responses to stress, responses to abiotic stimulus, and so on. KEGG pathway analyses of DEGs were mainly involved in the protein degradation process and other biologic process, such as the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways and nitrogen metabolism. Moreover, we also speculated that nine candidate core biomarker genes (namely, NILR1, PGPS1, WRKY33, BCS1, AR781, CYP81D8, NR1, EAP1 and MYB15) might be tightly correlated with the response or transport of heavy metals. Finally, experimental results displayed that these genes had the same expression trend response to different stresses as mentioned above (Cd, Pb and Cu) and no mentioned above (Zn and Cr). Conclusion In general, the identified biomarker genes could help us understand the potential molecular mechanisms or signaling pathways responsive to heavy metal stress in plants, and could be applied as marker genes to track heavy metal pollution in soil and water through detecting their expression in plants growing in those environments.
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spelling doaj.art-e0f20736354547c5b93bae888f0529d62023-12-02T21:59:33ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592019-03-017e649510.7717/peerj.6495Integrated bioinformatics analysis of As, Au, Cd, Pb and Cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through Arabidopsis thaliana GEO datasetsChao Niu0Min Jiang1Na Li2Jianguo Cao3Meifang Hou4Di-an Ni5Zhaoqing Chu6School of Ecological Technology and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaCollege of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaSchool of Ecological Technology and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaSchool of Ecological Technology and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaBackground Current environmental pollution factors, particularly the distribution and diffusion of heavy metals in soil and water, are a high risk to local environments and humans. Despite striking advances in methods to detect contaminants by a variety of chemical and physical solutions, these methods have inherent limitations such as small dimensions and very low coverage. Therefore, identifying novel contaminant biomarkers are urgently needed. Methods To better track heavy metal contaminations in soil and water, integrated bioinformatics analysis to identify biomarkers of relevant heavy metal, such as As, Cd, Pb and Cu, is a suitable method for long-term and large-scale surveys of such heavy metal pollutants. Subsequently, the accuracy and stability of the results screened were experimentally validated by quantitative PCR experiment. Results We obtained 168 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) which contained 59 up-regulated genes and 109 down-regulated genes through comparative bioinformatics analyses. Subsequently, the gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichments of these DEGs were performed, respectively. GO analyses found that these DEGs were mainly related to responses to chemicals, responses to stimulus, responses to stress, responses to abiotic stimulus, and so on. KEGG pathway analyses of DEGs were mainly involved in the protein degradation process and other biologic process, such as the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways and nitrogen metabolism. Moreover, we also speculated that nine candidate core biomarker genes (namely, NILR1, PGPS1, WRKY33, BCS1, AR781, CYP81D8, NR1, EAP1 and MYB15) might be tightly correlated with the response or transport of heavy metals. Finally, experimental results displayed that these genes had the same expression trend response to different stresses as mentioned above (Cd, Pb and Cu) and no mentioned above (Zn and Cr). Conclusion In general, the identified biomarker genes could help us understand the potential molecular mechanisms or signaling pathways responsive to heavy metal stress in plants, and could be applied as marker genes to track heavy metal pollution in soil and water through detecting their expression in plants growing in those environments.https://peerj.com/articles/6495.pdfGEO dataBiomarkerDifferentially expressed genesIntegrated bioinformatics analysisHeavy metal
spellingShingle Chao Niu
Min Jiang
Na Li
Jianguo Cao
Meifang Hou
Di-an Ni
Zhaoqing Chu
Integrated bioinformatics analysis of As, Au, Cd, Pb and Cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through Arabidopsis thaliana GEO datasets
PeerJ
GEO data
Biomarker
Differentially expressed genes
Integrated bioinformatics analysis
Heavy metal
title Integrated bioinformatics analysis of As, Au, Cd, Pb and Cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through Arabidopsis thaliana GEO datasets
title_full Integrated bioinformatics analysis of As, Au, Cd, Pb and Cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through Arabidopsis thaliana GEO datasets
title_fullStr Integrated bioinformatics analysis of As, Au, Cd, Pb and Cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through Arabidopsis thaliana GEO datasets
title_full_unstemmed Integrated bioinformatics analysis of As, Au, Cd, Pb and Cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through Arabidopsis thaliana GEO datasets
title_short Integrated bioinformatics analysis of As, Au, Cd, Pb and Cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through Arabidopsis thaliana GEO datasets
title_sort integrated bioinformatics analysis of as au cd pb and cu heavy metal responsive marker genes through arabidopsis thaliana geo datasets
topic GEO data
Biomarker
Differentially expressed genes
Integrated bioinformatics analysis
Heavy metal
url https://peerj.com/articles/6495.pdf
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