The final recipient of nanoparticles, including various types of copper-based nanoparticles (Cu-based NPs), is the aquatic environment. Their increased production, especially as a component of antimicrobial agents, raises concerns about uncontrolled environmental release and subsequent ecological risks. The high reactivity of Cu-based NPs enables interactions with biotic and abiotic environmental components, leading to bioaccumulation and disorders in living organisms, such as fish in various life stages, especially in embryos or hatchlings. Increasing concentration of Cu-based NPs causes various toxic effects, mainly through the induction of oxidative stress. These effects include impairment of antioxidant mechanisms, as well as damage to genetic material, cells and tissues, growth retardation, metabolic disorders, increased mortality, or hatching inhibition. The aim of this review is to describe the release routes of Cu-based NPs and their adverse effects on fish, while emphasizing the need for further research on their toxicity and measures to control their release to the environment. Given the limited data on the toxicity of Cu-based NPs, especially concerning sensitive fish developmental stages, further studies are required.

This study aims to determine the effects of copper, copper oxide nanoparticles, aluminium, and aluminium oxide nanoparticles on the growth rate and expression of ACT-1, CDPK, LIP, NFC, P5CR, P5CS, GR, and SiZIP1 genes in five days old seedling of Setaria italica ssp. maxima, cultivated in hydroponic culture. Depending on their concentration (ranging from 0.1 to 1.8 mg L⁻¹), all tested substances had both stimulating and inhibiting effects on the growth rate of the seedlings. Copper and copper oxide-NPs had generally a stimulating effect whereas aluminium and aluminium oxide-NPs at first had a positive effect but in higher concentrations they inhibited the growth. Treating the seedlings with 0.4 mg L⁻¹ of each tested toxicant was mostly stimulating to the expression of the genes and reduced the differences between the transcript levels of the coleoptiles and roots. Increasing concentrations of the tested substances had both stimulating and inhibiting effects on the expression levels of the genes. The highest expression levels were usually noted at concentrations between 0.4 and 1.0 mg/L of each metal and metal nanoparticle, except for SiZIP1, which had the highest transcript amount at 1.6 mg L⁻¹ of Cu²⁺ and at 0.1–0.8 mg L⁻¹ of CuO-NPs, and LIP and GR from the seedling treated with Al₂O₃-NPs at concentrations of 0.1 and 1.6 mg L⁻¹, respectively.

Secale sylvestre is a wild species of rye, morphologically distinct from domestic species. To draw comparisons between species based on molecular features, it is important to have high-quality sequences, especially in the case of organellar genomes. For such reason, the complete chloroplast genome of Secale sylvestre Host introd. no. 6047 will provide useful data for ecological, agricultural, and phylogenetic purposes. Here we present the complete, annotated chloroplast genome sequence of Secale sylvestre Host introd. no. 6047. The genome is 137116 base pair (bp) long. It is the first complete chloroplast genome that can be used as a reference genome for further analysis. The genome can be accessed on GenBank with the accession number (MW557517).