Abstract
In this study, the ability of Lemna minor L. to recover to normal growth, after being degraded in a tetracycline-containing medium, was extensively investigated. The plants were exposed to tetracycline (TC) at concentrations of 1, 2.5, and 10 mM. Subsequently, their physiological status was analysed against the following criteria: rate of plant growth; free radical accumulation; antioxidant enzyme activity; chlorophyll content; HSP70 protein content; cell membrane permeability, and mitochondrial activity. The study showed that duckweed can considerably recover from the damage caused by antibiotics, within a week of cessation of stress. Of the plant properties analysed, mitochondrial activity was the most sensitive to antibiotic-induced disturbances. After transferring the plants to a tetracycline-free medium, all plant parameters improved significantly, except for the mitochondrial activity in the plants grown on the medium containing the highest dose of tetracycline. In the plants treated with this antibiotic at the concentration of 10 mM, the proportion of dead mitochondria increased and was as high as 93% after one week from the beginning of the recovery phase, even after the transfer to the tetracycline-free medium.
Highlights
Water pollution is a serious global problem that makes it necessary to constantly monitor the quality of water resources
Tetracycline with a concentration range of 1 to 10 mM showed the toxicity by a reduction in the number of plants in each treatment (Figure 1A); the removal of tetracycline resulted in a distinct resumption of growth
Plant exposure to 2.5 mM TC caused a 48% reduction in the number of plants compared with the control, whereas the removal of TC resulted in recovery, so the ultimate reduction in plant number, at the end of the experiment, was only 8%
Summary
Water pollution is a serious global problem that makes it necessary to constantly monitor the quality of water resources. Contaminated water is a major cause of many diseases and deaths [2]; the World Health Organization indicates that more than 3.4 million people die every year due to diseases related to contaminated water [3]. In India, 80% of health problems are due to water quality [4]. The Water Quality Report for the US published in 2017 indicated that 46% of rivers, 21% of lakes, and 18% of coastal waters surveyed were considered polluted [6]. This is very disturbing data, given that most people in the US still drink water from surface systems
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