Abstract—The use of novel carriers for gene delivery has been rapidly growing; thus, investigation of potential phytotoxic and mutagenic action of gene delivery carriers is important for preventing their negative side effects. We found that poly-DMAEMA carriers used in a 0.0025% dose exhibited a weak cytotoxic effect towards Allium cepa plants. In a higher dose (0.025%), they slightly (by 26–55%) increased the level of catalase activity but did not affect the level of superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdehyde content in roots of A. cepa. Results of the ana-telophase test in A. cepa demonstrated no genotoxic activity of the polymeric carriers used in a 0.0025% concentration and the higher dose (0.025%). Slight genotoxic activity was detected only for BGP24 and BGP26, PEG-containing poly-DMAEMA carriers, used in 0.025% concentration. The Ames test (–S9 and +S9) revealed no mutagenic potential of the DMAEMA-based polymers. Thus, low phytotoxicity and no mutagenicity of novel polymeric carriers suggest their potential as promising nanocarriers for gene delivery into plant cells.

摘要—新型载体在基因传递中的应用正在迅速增长。因此，研究基因传递载体潜在的植物毒性和诱变作用对于防止其负面影响很重要。我们发现，以0.0025％的剂量使用的聚DMAEMA载体对葱属植物表现出较弱的细胞毒性作用。较高剂量（0.025％）时，它们稍微增加（26-55％），过氧化氢酶活性水平升高，但不影响洋葱曲霉根中的超氧化物歧化酶活性和丙二醛含量。洋葱曲霉后期期试验的结果证明在0.0025％浓度和更高剂量（0.025％）下使用的聚合物载体没有遗传毒性。仅对于0.025％浓度的BGP24和BGP26（含PEG的聚DMAEMA载体）检测到了轻微的遗传毒性。Ames测试（–S9和+ S9）显示基于DMAEMA的聚合物没有诱变潜力。因此，新的聚合物载体的低植物毒性和无诱变性表明它们作为将基因传递到植物细胞中的有前途的纳米载体的潜力。