Environmental hormesis, a fundamental non-monotonic biological phenomenon with implications in ecotoxicology and environmental safety
Environmental hormesis, a fundamental non-monotonic biological phenomenon with implications in ecotoxicology and environmental safety
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DOI：
10.1016/j.ecoenv.2017.12.003
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发表时间：
2018-02-01
影响因子：
6.8
通讯作者：
Agathokleous, Evgenios
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Agathokleous, Evgenios
在几个科学学科中，个体生物体或生物体群体对应激的生物反应是至关重要的，而兴奋效应是研究剂量-反应关系的最合适的概念。兴奋效应的概念支持药物对低剂量的反应与对高剂量的反应相反，其特征是在欧几里德空间中展开的J或U形。对于化合物和辐射，兴奋效应已经广为人知；然而，兴奋效应是否出现在各种环境因素上仍未得到充分的研究。在这里，我为环境刺激的发生提供了证据，它为各种各样的科学学科打开了潘多拉的“幻影”。我证明，植物对环境因素的反应通常可以用数学模型很好地描述，建议剂量反应应该基于广泛的剂量水平来评估，同时考虑到低水平和高水平的潜在影响。我预计这项研究将作为更复杂的实验的起点。环境兴奋效应的概念为生物可塑性提供了关键的定量信息；与生态和进化理论相关；并可能在全球变化的背景下产生长期的生态影响。环境刺激的概念也可用于造福人类和生物圈的可持续性。然而，要了解环境兴奋的生物学或生理机制，需要进行跨学科的研究。在制定以科学为基础的环境质量标准(EQC)时，应考虑环境刺激效应。
The biological response of individual organisms or groups of organisms to stress is crucial in several scientific disciplines, and hormesis is the most appropriate concept for studying dose-response relationships. The concept of hormesis supports that the response to low-level doses of an agent opposes the response to high-level doses and is characterized by a J or U shape outstretched in the Euclidean space. Hormesis has been widely known for chemical compounds and radiation; however, whether hormesis appears upon a variety of environmental factors remains underexplored. Here I provide evidence for the occurrence of environmental hormesis which opens Pandora's "pithos" for a wide variety of scientific disciplines. I demonstrate that plant response to environmental factors is often well described by hormetic model suggesting that dose responses should be evaluated based on a wide range of dose levels, taking into account potential effects at both low and high levels. I anticipate this study to serve as a starting point for more sophisticated experiments. The concept of environmental hormesis provides critical quantitative information for biological plasticity; is relevant to ecological and evolutionary theory; and may have long-term ecological implications within the context of global change. The concept of environmental hormesis can also be utilized for the benefit of human welfare and biosphere sustainability. However, to understand the underpinning biological or physiological mechanisms of environmental hormesis, trans-disciplinary research is needed. Environmental hormesis should be considered when developing science-based Environmental Quality Criteria (EQC).