Tracking the route of phenanthrene uptake in mosses: An experimental trial.
In recent decades, mosses have been used as native species or as transplants in monitoring a wide range of pollutants from inorganic (i.e. metals and metalloids) to organic contaminants (mainly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons-PAHs). To implement the use of mosses as biomonitors of PAHs, one important issue is the study of the interactions between these compounds and moss tissues. In this study we investigated the mode of phenanthrene uptake in four moss species (Amblystegium humile, Plagiomnium affine, Hypnum cupressiforme and a clone of Sphagnum palustre) and its movements from air to plant surface and within the biomonitors, using fluorescent and confocal microscopy. The target compound, partitioned between gas and particulate phase depending on air conditions, was selected since it is one of the most abundant PAHs released into the atmosphere. Our findings support the hypothesis that phenanthrene aggregates in particles and in this form it is chiefly intercepted and uptaken onto moss surfaces, albeit with different frequency in the four species, with S. palustre>H. cupressiforme>P. affine=A. humile. Phenanthrene enters the dead, empty hyalocysts of S. palustre. Specific surface area and composition, frequency and distribution of binding groups may also explain the different ability of phenanthrene uptake by the four moss species.
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia 4, 80126 Napoli, Italy.
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Spagnuolo
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia 4, 80126 Napoli, Italy.
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Figlioli
Dipartimento delle Scienze e Tecnologie (DST), Università degli Studi del Sannio, via Port'Arsa 11, 82100 Benevento, Italy.
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De Nicola
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia 4, 80126 Napoli, Italy; Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca Ambiente (CIRAM), Università di Napoli Federico II, via Mezzocannone, 16, 80132 Napoli, Italy.
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Capozzi
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia 4, 80126 Napoli, Italy. Electronic address: giordano@unina.it.
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Giordano
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D044002:Bryophyta / Q000378:metabolism*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000378:metabolism*
D000393:Air Pollutants; D010616:Phenanthrenes
Amblystegium humile; CLSM; Fluorescence microscopy; Hypnum cupressiforme; Plagiomnium affine; Sphagnum palustre