ABSTRACT
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a type of 8-carbon perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) widely used in industrial and domestic products, which now is a persistent organic pollutant (POP) found in the environment. Its structure is similar to fatty acids, which enables it to induce the expression of ACOT genes. To investigate the expression levels of Acot1 in various tissues and organs after exposure to PFOA for 28 days in rats, and to compare the variations of Acot1 expression in different tissues, we sectioned samples and incubated with Acot1 antibody. The results show that the transcription and protein expression levels of Acot1 in the liver and kidney of rats increased significantly. Meanwhile, the transcription and protein expression of Acot1 gene were also detected in testis, muscle, and adipose. The results of immunohistochemistry were also verified by western blot detection, and we detected the transcription of Acot1 gene in these tissues and found that they all increased in varying degrees. In this study, the expression of Acot1 protein in rat serum was detected for the first time, and the expression of Acot1 in rat serum was found to be significantly increased after PFOA exposure. In addition, the expression level of Acot1 in rat organism was found to be higher than that in the control group after 4 days of depuration for 7 days of acute PFOA exposure, and Acot1 protein expression also showed an increase with increasing exposure time, indicating that Acot1 can be used as a sensitive biomarker for health monitoring of PFOA occupational workers or exposed persons.
ABSTRACT
The study on the effects of long-term suboptimal temperature (T1) and short-term low temperature (T2) under low light density on cucumber seedling's growth and its photosynthesis showed that the growth speed, photosynthetic rate (Pn), carboxylation efficiency (CE), apparent quantum yield (AQY) and actual quantum yield of P(S II) electron transport (phi(PS II)) all declined remarkably, and the photochemical efficiency of PS II (Fnu/Fm) also decreased to some extent. The decreasing extents of Pn, CE and AQY of T1 were less than those of T2, while the recovery rate of T1 was slower than that of T2. The Fnu/Fm and phi(PS II) of T1 declined to less extent and resiled quickly, while those of T2 decreased to larger extent and recovered slowly. The contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoid of T1 increased remarkably after being treated, while those of T2 decreased evidently. The Chl a/b of both T1 and T2 declined remarkably. With recovery time going, the pigment of T1 declined under most conditions, while that of T2 increased gradually. Three days later, the pigment content of T1 and T2 were both higher than control. The Chl a/b had no significant change during the recovery period, and was still obviously lower than control.
