The studies on the toxicity mechanism of environmentally hazardous natural (IAA) and synthetic (NAA) auxin – The experiments on model Arabidopsis thaliana and rat liver plasma membranes

• IAA and NAA affect model Arabidopsis thaliana and rat liver plasma membranes.
• IAA and NAA decrease packing, stability and interactions in model membranes.
• Both auxins act on model membranes in concentration-dependent manner.
• NAA alters model membrane more selectively than IAA.
• Membrane-damage effect may be crucial in the mechanism of IAA and NAA toxicity.

This paper concerns the studies towards membrane-damage effect of two auxins: indole-3-acetic acid – IAA and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid – NAA on plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) and animal (rat liver) model membranes. The foregoing auxins are plant growth regulators widely used in agriculture to control the quality of the crop. However, their accumulation in the environment makes them hazardous for the living organisms. The aim of our investigations was to compare the effect of natural (IAA) vs. synthetic (NAA) auxin on the organization of plant and animal model membranes and find a possible correlation between membrane-disturbing effect of these compounds and their toxicity. The collected data evidenced that auxins cause destabilization of membranes, decrease their condensation and weakens interactions of molecules. The alterations in the morphology of model systems were also noticed. The foregoing effects of auxins are concentration-dependent and additionally NAA was found to act on animal vs. plant membranes more selectively than IAA. Interestingly, both IAA and NAA induce the strongest disordering in model lipid system at the concentration, which is frequently reported as toxic to animal and plants. Based on the above findings it was proposed that membrane-damage effect induced by IAA and NAA may be important from the point of view of the mechanism of toxicity of these compounds and cannot be ignored in further investigations in this area.

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