Toxic effects of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate on Chara vulgaris L.

Abstract

Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) is a common organic pollutant in freshwater environments. Studies have shown that the toxicity of LAS to aquatic plants is directly related to the LAS concentration and depends on the plant species. A 2-week exposure experiment was designed to investigate the toxicity of LAS for the submerged plant Chara vulgaris L. and focused on the effects on growth, photosynthetic pigment content, and antioxidant enzyme activity. The results showed that when exposed to lower LAS doses (≤ 1.0 mg l⁻¹), the dry weight of C. vulgaris was significantly reduced. Compared to those of the control group, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities significantly increased, while no significant effect was observed for catalase (CAT) activity. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content significantly increased in the LAS treatment groups except for the LAS concentration of 1.0 mg l⁻¹. The content of carotenoids was significantly lower in plant groups exposed to lower concentrations of LAS, while carotenoid content significantly increased at the highest concentration of LAS (5.0 mg l⁻¹). LAS treatment did not significantly affect chlorophyll a and b or total chlorophyll content. The results showed that 5.0 mg l⁻¹ causes some oxidative damage to C. vulgaris but that this concentration was far below the lethal concentration of LAS to C. vulgaris and did not produce severe effects on growth. C. vulgaris plants had some resistance to LAS stress (in the group with ≤ 5.0 mg l⁻¹). SOD, POD, and carotenoids were more sensitive to the effects of LAS stress and may be considered as response indicators for LAS stress.