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Cytotoxic and genotoxic evaluation of bisphenol S on onion root tips by Allium cepa and comet tests

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Abstract

Bisphenol S (BPS) is an analog of bisphenol A, which is used as substitute of BPA in many products like airport luggage tags, baby bottles, plastics, and epoxy resins etc. Bisphenol S can cause toxic effects in different organisms, i.e., mice, rat, zebrafish, and C.elegans, etc. Bisphenol S is also known as “endocrine disruptor” due to its ability to mimic the endocrine receptors. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of bisphenol S on meristematic cells present in onion root tips through Allium cepa (A.cepa) and comet tests. Root growth inhibition was evaluated by root growth inhibition assay. Mitotic index (MI) and chromosomal aberrations (CAs) were assessed by A.cepa assay. DNA damage was evaluated by comet assay. Root growth of A.cepa was inhibited due to bisphenol S. LC50 value calculated by root growth inhibition assay for bisphenol S was (2.6±0.63, 50 μg/ml). Mitotic index was reduced, and chromosomal aberrations were observed, i.e., stickiness, polyploidy, and disturbed ana-telophase in anaphase and telophase stages of mitosis. In case of comet assay, DNA damage was increased in statistically significant manner (p ≤ 0.05). It was concluded that bisphenol S constitutes cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on A. cepa root meristematic cells. Moreover, it is suggested to explore more toxicity studies of bisphenol S at molecular level.

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  1. Muhammad Muddassir Ali and Areej Fatima contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan

    Muhammad Muddassir Ali, Areej Fatima, Sadia Nawaz & Maryam Javed

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan

    Abdul Rehman

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan

    Asif Nadeem

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  1. Muhammad Muddassir Ali
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  2. Areej Fatima
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  4. Abdul Rehman
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Contributions

Idea was conceived and supervision was done by Muhammad Muddassir Ali. Experiments were performed and article was drafted by Areej Fatima. Sadia Nawaz and Abdul Rehman supervised and assisted in the experiments. Editing, proofreading of data, and resources management for the research were carried by Maryam Javed and Asif Nadeem.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Muddassir Ali.

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Ali, M.M., Fatima, A., Nawaz, S. et al. Cytotoxic and genotoxic evaluation of bisphenol S on onion root tips by Allium cepa and comet tests. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 88803–88811 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21888-2

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