Individual and combined effects of amoxicillin, enrofloxacin, and oxytetracycline on Lemna minor physiology

Abstract We investigated individual and combined effects of environmentally representative concentrations of amoxicillin (AMX; 2 μg l−1), enrofloxacin (ENR; 2 μg l−1), and oxytetracycline (OXY; 1 μg l−1) on the aquatic macrophyte Lemna minor. While the concentrations of AMX and ENR tested were not toxic, OXY decreased plant growth and cell division. OXY induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation and related oxidative stress through its interference with the activities of mitochondria electron transport chain enzymes, although those deleterious effects could be ameliorated by the presence of AMX and/or ENR, which prevented the overaccumulation of ROS by increasing catalase enzyme activity. L. minor plants accumulated significant quantities of AMX, ENR and OXY from the media, although competitive uptakes were observed when plants were submitted to binary or tertiary mixtures of those antibiotics. Our results therefore indicate L. minor as a candidate for phytoremediation of service waters contaminated by AMX, ENR, and/or OXY.