MUTAGENIC INFLUENCE OF NANOPARTICLES OF NICKEL, SILICON, TITANIUM ON ONTOGENESIS DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Abstract

Objective. Research of the mutagenic effect of various concentrations of nanoparticles of titanium, nickel and silicon on the ontogenesis of Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster) Canton S and Ebony lines.

Methodology. The study was conducted by preparing a nutrient medium for D. melanogaster with the addition of nanoparticles of titanium, silicon, and nickel; crossing in this environment an experimental sample of insects of the pure lines Ebony and Canton S, and further accounting for phenotype changes in individuals of the first and second generations. Preparation of nutrient medium was carried out according to the method of Yaschenko et al (2023). Methods of descriptive statistics, non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test, methods of graphic visualization of data were used to process quantitative data of accounting for phenotypic manifestations of mutations.

Scientific novelty. For the first time, the mutagenic activity of nanoparticles of titanium, nickel, and silicon in concentrations of 0.1 mg/cm³ and 0.01 mg/cm³ was characterized on the example of induced mutations in an experimental sample of D. melanogaster pure lines Canton S and Ebony, and their descendants of the first and second generations.

Conclusions. It was found that titanium nanoparticles lead to mutations both at a concentration of 0.1 mg/cm³ (14.8 % of mutant individuals in the first generation and 19.8 % in the second generation) and at a concentration of 0.01 mg/cm³ (4.3 % in the first generation and 3.7 % in the second). At the same time, silicon and nickel nanoparticles demonstrate mutagenic activity only at higher concentrations (0.1 mg/cm³). No phenotypic signs of mutations were detected among the experimental individuals that developed in an environment with concentrations of 0.01 mg/cm³ of nickel and silicon nanoparticles. Certain differences in mutagenesis in the samples of individuals of the Ebony and Canton S lines, which are related to the influence of the studied substances on cellular repair systems of D. melanogaster, were also analyzed. Based on the results of the research, the practical impracticability of using titanium nanoparticles for pharmacological purposes was substantiated, as well as the need for further thorough research into the possibility of medical and pharmacological use of silicon and nickel nanoparticles.