Ethephon, a member of the organophosphorus compounds, is one of the most widely used plant growth regulators for artificial ripening. Although million pounds of this chemical is being used annually, the knowledge regarding its molecular toxicity is yet not sufficient. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential developmental toxicity of ethephon using embryonic stem cell model. The mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) were exposed to various concentrations of ethephon and the viability, cell cycle alteration and changes in the gene expression profile were evaluated using high-throughput RNA sequencing. Further, the effect of ethephon on neural differentiation potential was examined. The results showed that ethephon at noncytotoxic doses induced cell cycle arrest in mESCs. Gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that terms related to cell fate and organismal development, including neuron fate commitment, embryo development and cardiac cell differentiation, were markedly enriched in ethephon-treated cells. Neural induction of mESCs in the presence of ethephon was inhibited and the expression of neural genes was decreased in differentiated cells. Results obtained from this work clearly demonstrate that ethephon affects the gene expression profile of undifferentiated mESCs and prevents neural differentiation. Therefore, more caution against the frequent application of ethephon is advised.

乙烯利是有机磷化合物的成员，是用于人工成熟的最广泛使用的植物生长调节剂之一。尽管每年使用数百万磅的这种化学药品，但有关其分子毒性的知识还不够。这项研究的目的是使用胚胎干细胞模型评估乙烯利的潜在发育毒性。将小鼠胚胎干细胞（mESCs）暴露于各种浓度的乙烯利中，并使用高通量RNA测序评估其生存力，细胞周期改变和基因表达谱的变化。此外，检查了乙烯利对神经分化潜能的影响。结果表明，无细胞毒性剂量的乙烯利可诱导mESCs的细胞周期停滞。基因本体富集分析表明，与乙烯命运处理的细胞显着丰富了与细胞命运和生物发展有关的术语，包括神经元命运，胚胎发育和心脏细胞分化。在乙烯利存在下，mESCs的神经诱导被抑制，分化细胞中神经基因的表达降低。从这项工作中获得的结果清楚地表明，乙烯利会影响未分化mESC的基因表达谱，并阻止神经分化。因此，建议不要频繁使用乙烯利。在乙烯利存在下，mESCs的神经诱导被抑制，分化细胞中神经基因的表达降低。从这项工作中获得的结果清楚地表明，乙烯利会影响未分化的mESCs的基因表达谱并阻止神经分化。因此，建议不要频繁使用乙烯利。在乙烯利存在下，mESCs的神经诱导被抑制，分化细胞中神经基因的表达降低。从这项工作中获得的结果清楚地表明，乙烯利会影响未分化mESC的基因表达谱，并阻止神经分化。因此，建议不要频繁使用乙烯利。