Cover features and new Associate Editors of the Journal of Environmental Sciences

Qingcai (First name) Feng (Last name)1, Suqin Liu1, Zhengang Mao1, Jian Xu1, Zixuan

Wang1, X. Chris Le2,*

1. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences,

Beijing 100085, China. E-mail: qcfeng@rcees.ac.cn

2. Division of Analytical and Environmental Toxicology, Department of Laboratory

Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G3, Canada

Received 06 January 2016

Rrevised 06 March 2016

Accepted 24 January 2007

Abstract: DNA damage in the form of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and

photoproducts (6-4 PPs) induced by UV-B radiation in Arabidopsis thaliana at different

temperatures was investigated using the technologies with specific monoclonal antibodies.

CPDs and 6-4 PPs increased during 3 hr UV-B exposure, but further exposure led to

decreases. Contrary to the commonly accepted view that DNA damage induced by UV-B

radiation is temperature-independent because of its photochemical nature, we found UV-B-

induction of CPDs and 6-4 PPs in Arabidopsis to be slower at a low than at a high

temperature. Photorepair of CPDs at 24℃ was much faster than that at 0 and 12℃, with

40%- 50% CPDs removal during 1 hr exposure to white light. Photorepair of 6-4 PPs at 12℃ was very slow as compared with that at 24℃, and almost no removal of 6-4 PPs was detected

after 4 hr exposure to white light at 0℃. There was evidence to suggest that temperature-

dependent DNA damage and photorepair could have important ecological implications.

Keywords:

Bisphenol A (BPA)

Estrogen receptors

Endocrine disruptors

Developmental effect

Immune effects

Cytokines

Asthma

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* Corresponding author. E-mail: xc.le@ualberta.ca (X. Chris Le)

Introduction

Bisphenol A (BPA, 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane; CAS# 80-05-7) is a highly produced

industrial chemical, with an estimated four billion kilograms produced worldwide each year

(Chen et al., 2014 (more than three authors)). BPA serves as a monomer in the manufacture of

polycarbonate, a hard, clear plastic. Polycarbonate plastics are used in many consumer

products, such as reusable water bottles. BPA is also widely used to make epoxy resins, which

act as coating on the inside of some metal-based food and beverage cans to protect the food

from directly contacting metal surfaces. BPA has been used in food packaging since the

1960s. Small amounts of BPA can be leached out from the containers into food and drinks.

Because of the prevalence of BPA in food and beverage containers, humans are exposed to

measurable levels of BPA (Chen et al., 2014; Cheng et al., 2015; Cui and Luan, 2015; Du et

al., 2014; Gao et al., 2015; Han et al., 2015). For example, the general population in the

United States consumes a median BPA amount of 34 nanograms per kilogram body weight

per day (34 ng/kg/day) (Cui and Luan, 2011 (two authors)). The major route of human

exposure to BPA is through ingestion, although dermal exposure to BPA is also possible

(Zhou, 2015 (one author)), because newspapers, flyers, tickets, receipts (thermal paper), and

magazines also contain BPA.

Many studies have focused on the effects of BPA, including its possible links to diabetes,

obesity, reproductive disorders, cardiovascular diseases, birth defects, kidney diseases, and

cancer (Hao et al., 2015; Lee, 2015; Li et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2012; Newbigging et al., 2015;

Ng et al., 2015a, 2015b). BPA is known for its endocrine-disrupting estrogenic effects, which

has been referenced to contribute to chronic diseases (Popowich et al., 2015; Qi et al., 2014).

Canada, the European Union, the United States, and several countries in Asia have banned the

use of BPA for the production of baby bottles (Sharply and Wang, 2014; Ye et al., 2014; Yin et

al., 2015; Zhou, 2015). However, conflicted findings on BPA toxicity and the reported

differences between low-dose and high-dose effects have led to the continuing debates over

the effects of BPA and its mechanism(s) of action (Yu et al., 2015; Zan et al., 2014). As a

result, several legislations have deemed BPA irrelevant to human health and still permit the

wide use of BPA for the production of select materials. 2

1 Materials and methods

1.1 Soil samples

Soil samples were collected from surface layer (0-20 cm in depth) of a paddy field located in

Sumen Village, Binjiang Country, Guixi City, Jiangxi Province, central subtropical China

(28°20.307′N and 117°14.133′E). This about 20,600 m2 paddy fields have been contaminated

with Cu and Cd by sewerage from an adjacent smelting factory for more than 20 years (Yu et

al., 2015). The paddy soil was developed from red sandstone with 13.0% clay, 40.5% silt and

46.5% sand, and the main properties of soil are shown in Table 1. The total concentrations of

Cu and Cd significantly exceed the environmental quality standard for agricultural soils (Cu

50 mg/kg and Cd 0.3 mg/kg in GB 15618-1995) issued by State Environmental Protection

Administration of China. Unfortunately, rice is still planted on the contaminated soils by local

farmers due to drive of compensation mechanism and poverty.

1.2 Plant and growth conditions

Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia-0 was used in all experiments. Seeds were surface-

sterilized with 75% ethanol, rinsed with water, and incubated for 2 days at 4℃, then

distributed in commercial mixture medium and covered with glass for 48 hr to ensure high

humidity for an even germination. After growing for 10 days, young plants were transplanted

to 6 cm × 6 cm plastic pots (5 plants in each pot) and grown in a greenhouse under 800

µmol/(m2·sec) photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm), supplied by 400 W

dysprosium lamps (Osram Powerstar, Germany).

1.3 UV-B and white light irradiation

UV-B radiation (also containing UV-A) was obtained from 6 UVB-313 lamps (Q-PANEL,

USA) and filtered through 0.13 mm cellulose diacetate. All radiation below 280 nm was

filtered out. Measurement of spectral irradiance was same as our previous report (Li et al.,

2014). Irradiance of the UV-B region (280-315 nm) was 2.95 W/m2. White light, 150 W/m2 in

the interval 400-700 nm, used for photorepair experiments, was supplied by a 400 W lamp

(Osram Powerstar, Germany) and filtered through a 10 cm depth of water in a transparent

polystyrene container to remove excess infrared radiation. Radiation measurements were

carried out with a model 754-6S spectroradiometer (Optronic Laboratories, USA). Spectral

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irradiances of UV-B and white light for photorepair experiments were shown in our previous

report (Chen et al., 2014).

In the isotherm experiments, 4 g of samples were mixed with 100 mL Pb2+ solution (80,

400, 800, 2000 and 4000 mg/L) at 200 r/min and 25℃ for the equilibrium time. To gain a

comprehensive knowledge of the Pb2+ adsorption process, the adsorbents included S, P, SP1

(0, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 10 days), SP2 (10 days) and SP3 (10 days). The Pb2+ solution after adsorption

was collected and measured using the method mentioned above, with each treatment being in

triplicates. The total number of treatments in the experiment was 150 (5×10×3). The Pb2+

adsorbed amount (Q) was calculated by Eq. (1):

(1)

where, C0 (mg/L) and C (mg/L) are the initial and final Pb2+ concentrations, respectively; V

(L) is the solution volume in the flask, m (g) is the dry mass of the absorbent.

2 Results and discussion (results and discussion can be written separately)

2.1 UV-B induced DNA damage in Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana plants grown in greenhouse were exposed to UV-B radiation in dark

room at 24℃. Both types of dimeric pyrimidine photoproducts were induced in plant leaves.

The CPDs content of leaves increased during 3 hr UV-B exposure and a smaller increase of 6-

4 PPs was observed (Fig. 1). Further exposure of UV-B radiation led to decrease of both types

of DNA damage. The decrease is probably due to photorepair activity driven by the UV-A

radiation supplied together with the UV-B. It was deduced from our result that A. thaliana, as

quantified by dimer formation in DNA, was very sensitive to UV-B radiation.

2.2 Effect of temperature on DNA damage

Fig. 2 shows that UV-B-induced DNA damage in A. thaliana depends on temperature. When

detached leaves were exposed to UV-B radiation for 2 hr at 12 and 24℃, more CPDs and 6-4

PPs accumulated than at 0℃ (t-test, P < 0.01) (Fig. 2a), but the difference of 6-4 PPs

formation between at 12 and 24℃ was not significant. Both CPDs and 6-4 PPs were induced

by UV-B radiation even at 0℃ (Fig. 2b).

3 Conclusions

Temperature is one of the major environmental factors controlling survival, growth,

reproduction, and thus geographic distribution of plants. The study of combined temperature

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and UV-B radiation could be of importance with respect to possible effects of climatic

change, especially global warming and increasing levels of UV-B radiation caused by the

depletion of stratospheric ozone layer. The present investigation provided molecular evidence

for temperature-dependence of UV-B-induced DNA damage and photorepair.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.

*******, ******) and the Natural Science Foundation of Educational Department of

Guangdong Government (No. ******).

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in online version at xxxxxx.

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Reference style of JES

Journal articles:

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four tundra ecotopes in Ny-Ålesund of the High Arctic. J. Environ. Sci., 26(7): 1403–

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2. Cheng, J.P., Fujimura, M., Bo, D.D., 2015. Assessing pre/post-weaning neurobehavioral

development for perinatal exposure to low doses of methylmercury. J. Environ. Sci., 38:

36–41.

Book with edition:

Liu, G.L., Cai, Y., O’Driscoll, N., (Editors), 2012. Advances in Environmental Chemistry and

Toxicology of Mercury. John & Wiley Book..

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Thesis:7

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http://http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/guidelines/en/. Accessed

September 4, 2016.

List of tables

Table 1 Heavy metal contents in the slag and dust samples

Element DS WQS AAR BFD

As (mg/kg) 700 5700 86000 1280

Sb (mg/kg) 6930 11100 316000 234000

Cd (mg/kg) 0.44 0.07 1.04 5.60

Co (mg/kg) 2.29 32.6 0.23 10.7

Cr (mg/kg) 28.3 213 12.0 116

DS: desulfurized slag; WQS: water-quenched slag; AAR: arsenic-alkali residue; BFD: blast

furnace dust.

List of figures

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Spec

ific

grot

h ra

te (d

ay-1)

Xmax

Fe(Ⅲ ) concentration (g/L)

Cel

l den

isty

(10

6 cells

/mL)

10 50 100 300 500 1000 20000.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

Fig. 1 Difference in maximum cell density (Xmax) and average specific growth rate () for

different Fe(III) concentrations.

8

Fig. 3 (a) Raman spectra of (1) g-C3N4 NS, (2) BiFeO3 and (3) BiFeO3-g-C3N4 composite and

(b) FT-IR spectra of (1) BiFeO3, (2) g-C3N4 NS and (3) BiFeO3-g-C3N4 composite.

Additional information

Unit format JES format

Time Year year

Month month(s)

Week week(s)

Day day(s)

Hour hr

Minutes min

Second sec

Mass Kilogram kg

Gram g

Milligram mg

Microgram μg

High Meter m

Centimeter cm

Millimeter mm

Micrometer μm9

Area Square meter m2

Hectare ha

Volume Cubic meter m3

Liter L

Milliliter mL

Micro liter μL

Pressure (suggest only use Pa) Pascal Pa

Concentration (using mol/L

instead of M and N)

Milligram per liter mg/L

Mole per liter mol/L

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Cover features and new Associate Editors of the Journal of Environmental Sciences

Qingcai (First name) Feng (Last name)1, Suqin Liu1, Zhengang Mao1, Jian Xu1, Zixuan

Wang1, X. Chris Le2,*

1. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences,

Beijing 100085, China. E-mail: qcfeng@rcees.ac.cn

2. Division of Analytical and Environmental Toxicology, Department of Laboratory

Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G3, Canada

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Received 06 January 2016

Rrevised 06 March 2016

Accepted 24 January 2007

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* Corresponding author. E-mail: xc.le@ualberta.ca (X. Chris Le)

[Insert supporting materials here]

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