Monika Tarnawska

• PhD
• Researcher at University of Silesia in Katowice

Increasing usage of nanoparticles or nanomaterials may lead to their release into the environment. The toxicity of these structures, classified as contaminants of emerging concern, is not yet sufficiently understood. However, as in the case of other environmental stressors, the effects of exposure to them should be analyzed on a multigenerational s...

Airborne road and abrasive car parts particles penetrate into aquatic and soil environments, but also, settling on vegetation along highways, enter trophic chains as a result of consumption by herbivorous invertebrates. The effects of this exposure are poorly recognized. The study aimed to assess the toxicity of two traffic-connected materials: tre...

The use of nanoparticles in the industry carries the risk of their release into the environment. Based on the presumption that the primary graphene oxide (GO) toxicity mechanism is reactive oxygen species production in the cell, the question arises as to whether well-known antioxidants can protect the cell or significantly reduce the effects of GO....

Mechanisms, including autophagy and apoptosis, which serve to regulate and ensure proper organism functions under optimal conditions, play additional defensive roles under environmental pressure. The aim of this study was to test the following hypotheses: (i) elevated autophagy and apoptosis intensity levels, as defensive processes in response to c...

The use of nanoparticles like graphene oxide (GO) in nanocomposite industries is growing very fast. There is a strong concern that GO can enter the environment and become nanopollutatnt. Environmental pollutants’ exposure usually relates to low concentrations but may last for a long time and impact following generations. Attention should be paid to...

Microplastic enlisted as a contaminant of emerging concerns in polluted environments interact with "traditional" contaminants such as metals, causing, among others, their increased accumulation in the body. Harmful effects depend on the exposed animals' possible preadaptation and/or cross-tolerance. The project aimed to assess the role of this phen...

The rising applicability of graphene oxide (GO) should be preceded by detailed tests confirming its safety and lack of toxicity. Sensitivity to GO of immature, or with different survival strategy, individuals has not been studied so far. Therefore, in the present research, we focused on the GO genotoxic effects, examining selected parameters of DNA...

Nanodiamonds (NDs) are considered a material with low toxicity. However, no studies describe the effects of ND withdrawal after multigenerational exposure. The aim was to evaluate ND exposure (in the 1st and 2nd generations) effects at low concentrations (0.2 or 2 mg g⁻¹) and withdrawal (in the 3rd generation) in the wild (H) and longevity-selected...

Tryptophan (TRP) is one of the essential amino acids in the animal body. Its exogenicity and low concentrations mean that it can be regarded as one of the key regulatory molecules at the cellular as well as physiological level. It has been shown to have a number of essential functions, such as in the production of other biologically active molecule...

The liver plays a central role in glucose and fatty acid metabolism and acts as an endocrine organ that secretes hepatokines with diverse systemic effects. The study aimed to examine the influence of duodenojejunal omega switch (DJOS) bariatric surgery in combination with different diets on glucose administration parameters and hepatokines levels....

The anthropogenic activities may lead to accumulation of graphene oxide (GO) pollution in the environment. Organisms exposed to chronic or multigenerational GO intoxication can present reproduction depletion. Vitellogenin (Vg) has been used as a parameter for evaluating female fertility due to its importance in embryo nutrition. In this study, we u...

This research was designed to investigate changes that can arise in an invertebrate organism due to stress caused by a strong prooxidant, graphene oxide (GO), and a potent antioxidant, vitamin C. The study aimed to investigate if vitamin C may support convalescence after chronic GO intoxication. We investigated the toxicity of chronic dietary graph...

Mitochondria are organelles that play a crucial role in cell physiology, cell death, and aging. They are among the first responders to different stressors that originate from the environment. Cadmium as a heavy metal affects different levels of body organization: from organs through tissues and cells to organelles. Based on our previous research re...

Variability of stress proteins concentration in caged carp exposed to transplantation experiment model dam reservoir was caused only by natural (climatic and biological) conditions. Thus, the reference data of stress proteins concentration range in young carp individuals were obtained. Metallothionein, HSP70 and HSP90 protein concentrations as biom...

Autophagy is a natural process that aims to eliminate malfunctioning cell parts, organelles or molecules under physiological conditions. It is also induced in response to infection, starvation or oxidative stress to provide energy in case of an energy deficit. The aim of this 2-dimensional study was to test if, and if so, how, this process depends...

The aim of this study was to determine the role of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (western corn rootworm, WCR) as a potential insect vector of the pathogenic bacterium Pantoea ananatis. The experiment included a greenhouse test to investigate if WCR was able to transfer the pathogenic bacteria from infected to healthy maize plants. Adult WCR specim...

Cadmium as a common environmental stressor may exert highly toxic effects on herbivorous insects. The question was whether possible elevation of an oxidative stress and imbalance of energetic reserves in insects may depend on developmental stage, sex and insect population’s multigenerational history of exposure to cadmium. So, the aim of this study...

Human activity is a serious cause of extensive changes in the environment and a constant reason for the emergence of new stress factors. Thus, to survive and reproduce, organisms must constantly implement a program of adaptation to continuously changing conditions. The research presented here is focused on tracking slow changes occurring in Spodopt...

The aim of this study was to investigate how the exposure of the western corn rootworm beetle (WCR) to dimethoate might affect their ability to detoxify and Hsps response. The activity of the esterases: acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and carboxylesterase (CbE) and the level of Hsp90, Hsp70 and Hsp40 was assayed in adult individuals 1 h and 24 h after...

The middle region of the digestive system, the midgut of freshwater shrimp Neocaridina davidi is composed of a tube-shaped intestine and the hepatopancreas formed by numerous caeca. Two types of cells have been distinguished in the intestine, the digestive cells (D-cells) and regenerative cells (R-cells). The hepatopancreatic tubules have three dis...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether zinc supplementation modulates cadmium toxicity in the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua selected for 135 generations towards cadmium tolerance. To achieve this, larvae originating from three laboratory populations of S. exigua (control strain - C; cadmium-intoxicated for 135 generations strain - Cd, a...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the cadmium tolerance developed in the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua selected for over 150 generations may be related to synthesis of the stress proteins metallothioneins (Mts) and 70 kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70). To achieve this, six S. exigua strains (control, k), 150-generation Cd exposure st...

Pharmaceuticals and household chemicals are important components of municipal sewage. Many of them are biologically active, disrupting not only hormonal regulation of aquatic animals but also, indirectly, disturbing their immunological protection. In the environment, chemicals rarely act as individual substances, but as elements of mixtures. Theref...

The European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner) is a crop pest that feeds on a wide range of host plants including dicots and is considered one of most serious maize pest in many parts of Europe also in Poland. Pest organisms should at first be controlled by biological methods and, if these are ineffective, the use of chemical agents is allowed...

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important crops in Poland. Among pests, phytophagous insects impact both the quality and quality of crop yields. Research on them has been carried out in Poland since the 1950s of the 20th century. In the middle of the 20th century on the maize acreage in Poland 32 species of the phytophagous insects were iden...

Long lasting exposure of animals to stressing factor may lead to the selection of population able to cope with the stressor at lower cost than unexposed individuals. The aim of this study was to assess whether 130-generational selection of a beet armyworm to cadmium in food might have induced tolerance also to other stressors. The potential toleran...

In the case of the pests inhabiting metal polluted or fields where the use of pesticides is common , a natural selection of resistant individuals can occur. This may pose serious problems for humans, agriculture, as well as the economies of many countries. In this study, the hypothesis that multigenerational (120 generations) exposure to cadmium of...

Tail length and olive tail moment in S. exigua hemocyte nuclei (Variant 0). (PDF)

Tail length and olive tail moment in S. exigua hemocyte nuclei (Variant 2). (PDF)

The matrix of AFLP data generated after the analysis of 12 primer combinations for S. exigua control and cadmium breeding strains. (PDF)

Tail length and olive tail moment in S. exigua hemocyte nuclei (Variant 1). (PDF)

Hsp40, Hsp70 and Hsp90 proteins exhibit increased level of expression in animals exposed to negative environmental conditions, including pesticides, but the measured effect depends on the class which particular Hsp is belonging to. In this study we examined Hsp level in the Colorado potato beetle exposed to pesticide dimethoate by using Western blo...

The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is an important pest of maize. The diet of the D. virgifera imago is rich in starch and other polysaccharides present in cereals such as maize. Therefore, knowledge about enzymes involved in digestion of such specific food of this pest seems to be importan...

The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is an important pest of maize. The diet of the D. virgifera imago is rich in starch and other polysaccharides present in cereals such as maize. Therefore, knowledge about enzymes involved in digestion of such specific food of this pest seems to be importan...

The present paper presents details of the population dynamics of Diabrotica v. virgifera LeConte beetles on six maize varieties of three different maturity classes, i.e. early (FAO 190), medium-early (FAO 250) and medium-late (FAO 280–300), grown in Central and Eastern Europe. The study was conducted in 2009/10 in the south-eastern part of Poland....

Comet assay was applied to study genotoxic damage induced by paraquat (PQ) in brain cells of Chorthippus brunneus (Insecta: Orthoptera) hatchlings. Percentage of the comet fluorescence in the tail (TDNA), length of the comet tail (TL) and Olive tail moment (OTM) were used for quantitative assessment of the DNA damage. Multiple regression analysis s...

The phenomenon of metal hyperaccumulation by plants is often explained by a pathogen or herbivore defense hypothesis. However, some insects feeding on metal hyperaccumulating plants are adapted to the high level of metals in plant tissues. Former studies on species that feed on the leaves of Berkheya coddii Roessler 1958 (Asteraceae), a nickel-hype...

Plants may use the ability to hyperaccumulate toxic metals in their defence against herbivores. Insects can counteract and feed on toxic plants. Among grazers of Ni-hyperaccumulating Berkheya coddii, some beetles tolerate Ni (Chrysolina clathrata, former name Chrysolina pardalina; Epilachna nylanderi). The adaptive mechanisms against Ni toxicity we...

The hsp70 level in the bodies of 1st instars of grasshoppers Chorthippus brunneus from unpolluted (Pilica) and polluted (Olkusz, Szopienice) sites and additionally exposed to various doses of zinc during diapause and embryonic development prior to hatching were measured by Western blotting. The main aim of our work was to assess the relationship be...

Grasshopper Stenoscepa sp is an insect species feeding on the South-African Ni-hyperaccumulating plants. Large amounts of Ni ingested by them have no effect on their development. To explain their ability to survive in such extreme conditions, we investigated the distribution of elements in the insect body by means of a nuclear microprobe [micro-par...

Berkheya coddii Roessler (Asteraceae) is a hyper-accumulator of nickel, which can be used in phytomining and phytoremediation. Chrysolina pardalina Fabricius (Chrysomelidae) is a phytophagous leaf beetle, which may be useful in controlling population levels of B. coddii after it has been introduced into a new habitat. The aim of this study was to i...

This study is focused on recognizing how the functional role of hepatopancreas, the main metal storage organ in woodlice, is affected by the excess of nickel, a toxic element to soil invertebrates. Chronic Ni toxicity (24 weeks) was studied on four groups of woodlice kept on dry shredded maple leaves contaminated with Ni at average concentrations o...

Studies on toxic effects of nickel were conducted in a chronic experiment on four groups of woodlice Porcellio scaber kept for 24 weeks on dry maple leaves containing Ni 0.1 (control), 8 (Ni1), 75 (Ni2) and 270 (Ni3) lg g�1 dry weight. Micro-PIXE elemental mapping complemented by proton backscattering was used to study relations between Ni and othe...

The aim of this study was to determine elemental composition of sap-feeding insects inhabiting various parts of the Ni hyperaccumulating plant Berkheya coddii Roessl., the endemic species of ultramafic outcrops in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Three species were examined: the aphid Protaphis pseudocardui (Aphididae), abundant on young leaves; the mealy...

Long-term exposure to high levels of nickel may have caused adaptive changes in the enzymes that enable Chrysolina pardalina to deal with other stressors, including organophosphate pesticides. Abstract Berkheya coddii Roessler (Asteraceae) is a hyper-accumulator of nickel, which can be used in phytomining and phytoremediation. Chrysolina pardalina...

Two selected examples of PIXE microanalysis in ecophysiology are presented. Studies of heavy metal distributions in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal roots of Plantago lanceolata showed different filtration mechanisms of Zn/Pb and Fe/Mn, both enabling plants to cope with metals present in the environment. Studies of the mechanism used by the beetle C...

Berkheya coddii Roessler (Asteraceae), an endemic herbaceous and perennial nickel-hyperaccumulating plant growing on Ni-enriched ultramafic soils in South Africa, is perceived as a promising species for phytoremediation and phytomining due to its large biomass production and high Ni content. Total concentrations of a number of elements in mature le...