to assess nickel-induced toxicity in plants, zea mays seeds were germinated and cultured on nutrient solution with nickel concentrations of 0, 50, 100 and 200 μm for a period of two weeks. its effects on the growth, hill reaction and photosynthetic pigments content were then investigated. the fresh and dry weight of leaves and roots increased in 50 μm nickel, but decreased in 100 and 200 μm. th...

Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), a well known naturally occurring chain breaking antioxidant and a free radical scavenger was found to exacerbate nickel (Ni) toxicity in mice. Vitamin E (Vit. E) mediated enhancement of nickel toxicity was demonstrated by (i) enhanced mortality in mice treated with Ni and Vit. E (ii) increased hepatic lipid peroxidation, (iii) increased rate of benzoate hydroxylati...

Stem cell research can lead to the development of treatments for a wide range of ailments including diabetes, heart disease, aging, neurodegenerative diseases, spinal cord injury, and cancer. OCT4 is a master regulator of self-renewal of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells. OCT4 also plays a crucial role in reprogramming of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Given known ...

The freshwater fingerlings of Cirrhinus mrigala were exposed to Nickel in acidic medium pH = 6.0 (5.8-6.2), alkaline medium pH = 9.0 (8.8-9.2) and water hardness (40 mg/l) of CaCO3. The study indicates that nickel accumulation was significantly influenced by pH and hardness of water The concentration was found to be significantly higher at pH = 9.0 than at pH = 6.0. Also the presence of hardnes...

A plant growth-promoting bacterium, Kluyvera ascorbata SUD165, that contained high levels of heavy metals was isolated from soil collected near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The bacterium was resistant to the toxic effects of Ni2+, Pb2+, Zn2+, and CrO4-, produced a siderophore(s), and displayed 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase activity. Canola seeds inoculated with this bacterium and...

Flow-through toxicity tests were conducted on common freshwater fishes: rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), roach (Rutilus rutilus), perch (Perca fluviatilis) and dace (Leuciscus leuciscus), to estimate their sensitivity to acute toxicity of nickel. The 96-hour median lethal concentration (96-hour LC50) values obtained from the tests ranged fr...

Mitochondria are important targets of metal toxicity and are also vital for maintaining metal homeostasis. Here, we examined the potential role of mitochondria in homeostasis of nickel in the roots of nickel hyperaccumulator plant Alyssum murale. We evaluated the biochemical basis of nickel tolerance by comparing the role of mitochondria in closely related nickel hyperaccumulator A. murale and ...