Determination of genotoxic effects of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles on Allium cepa L. meristem cells of root with rRAPD-PCR

Nanotechnology is at the foreground of rapidly developing research fields but the damage to the environment of the nanoparticles has not been fully determined. In this study, the toxic effect of TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles on root meristematic cells of Allium cepa L. was investigated. In study, A. cepa was given nanoparticles at increasing doses (10, 100, 1000 µg/ml) and compared to the control group after 72 hours. Genomic DNA was obtained by DNA isolation and RAPD-PCR was performed with 4 primers. According to the RAPD-PCR profiles, a total of 135 bands were obtained from 4 primers. Different polymorphic bands were obtained at each treatment concentration of TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles applied to 4 primers. This polymorphism has been shown to increase or decrease the density of the bands occurred, the disappearance of the bands, or the formation of new bands when compared to the control group. The formation of new bands was mostly obtained from high concentrations of TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles. According to application results, the genotoxic effects of TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles on A. cepa root cells increased in directly proportion with increasing doses at 72 hours. As a result, DNA polymorphisms detected by RAPD analysis can be used as a research tool for environmental toxicology and may constitute a source for further toxicological evaluations.