Effects of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Arabidopsis Mesophyll Cells

Herein we reported the effects of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on Arabidopsis mesophyll cells. The mesophyll protoplasts were prepared by enzyme digestion, and incubated with 15, 25, 50, 100 μg/ml SWCNTs for 48 hours, and then were observed by optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was measured. Results showed that SWCNTs could traverse both the plant cell wall and cell membrane, with less than or equal to 50 μg/ml in the culture medium, SWCNTs stimulated plant cells to grow out trichome clusters on their surface, with more than 50 μg/ml SWCNTs in the culture medium, SWCNTs exhibited obvious toxic effects to the protoplasts such as increasing generation of ROS, inducing changes of protoplast morphology, changing green leaves into yellow, and inducing protoplast cells' apoptosis. In conclusion, SWCNTs maybe a good transporter in the plant world, and exhibit dose-dependent dual-phase regulation to Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts.