Battisti Ilaria, Zambonini Dario, Ebinezer Leonard Barnabas, Trentin Anna Rita, Meggio Franco, Petit Giai, Masi Antonio
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, PD, Italy.
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, PD, Italy.
Chemosphere. 2023 Dec;344:140380. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140380. Epub 2023 Oct 7.
Climate change and pollution are increasingly important stress factors for life on Earth. Dispersal of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are causing worldwide contamination of soils and water tables. PFAS are partially hydrophobic and can easily bioaccumulate in living organisms, causing metabolic alterations. Different plant species can uptake large amounts of PFAS, but little is known about its consequences for the plant water relation and other physiological processes, especially in woody plants. In this study, we investigated the fractionation of PFAS bioaccumulation from roots to leaves and its effects on the conductive elements of willow plants. Additionally, we focused on the stomal opening and the phytohormonal content. For this purpose, willow cuttings were exposed to a mixture of 11 PFAS compounds and the uptake was evaluated by LC-MS/MS. Stomatal conductance was measured and the xylem vulnerability to air embolism was tested and further, the abscisic acid and salicylic acid contents were quantified using LC-MS/MS. PFAS accumulated from roots to leaves based on their chemical structure. PFAS-exposed plants showed reduced stomatal conductance, while no differences were observed in abscisic acid and salicylic acid contents. Interestingly, PFAS exposure caused a higher vulnerability to drought-induced xylem embolism in treated plants. Our study provides novel information about the PFAS effects on the xylem hydraulics, suggesting that the plant water balance may be affected by PFAS exposure. In this perspective, drought events may be more stressful for PFAS-exposed plants, thus reducing their potential for phytoremediation.
气候变化和污染日益成为地球上生命的重要压力因素。多氟烷基和全氟烷基物质（PFAS）的扩散正在导致全球土壤和地下水位的污染。PFAS具有部分疏水性，能够轻易地在生物体内生物累积，从而引起代谢改变。不同的植物物种能够吸收大量的PFAS，但其对植物水分关系和其他生理过程的影响却知之甚少，尤其是在木本植物中。在本研究中，我们调查了PFAS从根部到叶片的生物累积分级情况及其对柳树传导元件的影响。此外，我们还关注气孔开放和植物激素含量。为此，将柳树插条暴露于11种PFAS化合物的混合物中，并通过液相色谱-串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS）评估其吸收情况。测量气孔导度，测试木质部对空气栓塞的脆弱性，并且进一步使用LC-MS/MS对脱落酸和水杨酸含量进行定量分析。PFAS根据其化学结构从根部累积到叶片。暴露于PFAS的植物气孔导度降低，而脱落酸和水杨酸含量未观察到差异。有趣的是，PFAS暴露使处理过的植物对干旱诱导的木质部栓塞更脆弱。我们的研究提供了关于PFAS对木质部水力影响的新信息，表明植物水分平衡可能受到PFAS暴露的影响。从这个角度来看，干旱事件可能对暴露于PFAS的植物造成更大压力，从而降低其植物修复的潜力。
