Phytotoxicities of fluoranthene and phenanthrene deposited on needle surfaces of the evergreen conifer, Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb. et. Zucc).

Oguntimehin Ilemobayo

Nakatani Nobutake

Sakugawa Hiroshi

Environmental Pollution

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been widely studied with respect to their carcinogenic and mutagenic effects on animals and human cells. Phenanthrene (PHE) and fluoranthene (FLU) effects on the needle photosynthetic traits of two-year-old Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb. et. Zucc) seedlings were investigated. Three months after fumigation of foliage with solutions containing these PAHs (10 μM each), FLU had negative effects on net photosynthesis at near-saturating irradiance, stomatal conductance, initial chlorophyll fluorescence, and the contents of total chlorophyll, magnesium, and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (rubisco) of current-year needles. PHE had similar negative effects to FLU but in lesser magnitude. The effects of the PAHs were mitigated by the addition of an OH-radical scavenger (mannitol) into the PAHs solutions. PAHs deposited on the surface of pine needles may induce the generation of reactive oxygen species in the photosynthetic apparatus, a manner closely resembling the action of the herbicide paraquat.

Capsule: Fluoranthene and phenanthrene caused negative effects on the needles of Japanese red pine.

PAHs fumigation

Fluoranthene

Phenanthrene

Mannitol

Pine needles

植物学 [ 470 ]

英語

Elsevier Science Ltd.

Copyright (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd

[ISSN] 0269-7491

[DOI] 10.1016/j.envpol.2007.10.039

[NCID] AA10664567

[DOI] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2007.10.039