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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Biotechnology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1493896
This article is part of the Research Topic Molecular and Physiological Mechanisms Driving Phytoremediation View all 3 articles

Phytotoxicity and Phytoremediation Potential of Lemna minor Exposed to Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)

Provisionally accepted
Azam Noori Azam Noori 1*Lorena Corbelli Lorena Corbelli 1Erin Lincoln Erin Lincoln 1Sara Thomas Sara Thomas 2Jasmine Jones Jasmine Jones 2Sara L. Nason Sara L. Nason 2Jason Christopher White Jason Christopher White 2Riley Lewis Riley Lewis 3Christy L. Haynes Christy L. Haynes 3
  • 1 Merrimack College, North Andover, United States
  • 2 Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • 3 Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one of the highly toxic compounds which was phased out of application in consumer products in 2015 due to its harmful effects on human and environmental health. However, this chemical was in use for many years and is still found in water resources. This study focuses on the physiological response of duckweed (Lemna minor) exposed to PFOA so as to determine phytotoxicity and the potential of this aquatic species to remove PFOA from the environment. A time-dependent phytotoxicity assay showed that exposure to 0.1 µg/L PFOA for 14 days resulted in the loss of chlorophyll pigment and 15-25% more chlorosis than in controls. Although exposure to PFOA for seven days resulted in chlorosis, no significant impact on physiological parameters such as photosynthetic pigment or anthocyanin content were detected. The analysis of cellular size on day zero and seven of the experiment showed that the control group showed significantly larger cell size after seven days (213 ± 6.5 µm²) compared with the day zero group (186 ± 18 µm²), while the size of the PFOA exposed group (198 ± 13 µm²) did not change significantly after seven days compared with the day zero group. The nuclear size increased significantly by 13% upon exposure to PFOA compared with the controls (ρ < 0.0001). The concentration of essential elements K, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Mo were reduced in L. minor exposed to PFOA compared with the controls by 39.6, 33.4, 42.1, 35.2, 31.9, 40.2%, respectively. Additionally, PFOA accumulated in L. minor fronds and roots with an average bioaccumulation factor of 56±7. Overall, while some symptoms of toxicity were observed, this study shows that L. minor can tolerate up to 0.1 µg/L PFOA, a commonly found concentrations in water bodies, and can remove PFOA from water. This study provides invaluable information regarding the phototoxicity impacts of PFOA on aquatic species and the potential for aquatic phytoremediation of PFOA.

    Keywords: Emerging compounds, Lemna minor, pfoa, Phytoremediation, phytotoxicity

    Received: 11 Sep 2024; Accepted: 24 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Noori, Corbelli, Lincoln, Thomas, Jones, Nason, White, Lewis and Haynes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Azam Noori, Merrimack College, North Andover, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.