Impact of anionic synthetic surfactants of lead ions and their combinations on the pigment profile of freshwater plant organisms Ceratophyllum demersum and Egeria densa

Abstract

The development of human civilization inevitably leads to the development of production with increasing emissions of many chemicals into the environment. This is especially noticeable in relation to surface waters of fresh water bodies. A very alarming point is that the amount of toxic anthropogenic substances, including heavy metals, is growing every year and is increasingly disturbing the existing ecological balance. Plant organisms of water bodies are among the first to experience the effects of any anthropogenic pollutants and especially heavy metals and surfactants, the amount of which increases in the water of rivers and lakes. Very important in this is the complex of morpho-physiological adaptations associated with restructuring in the structure of chloroplasts. Changes in the content of photosynthetic pigments in plants of two species (Ceratophyllum demersum and Egeria densa) were assessed when they were exposed to very common technogenic substances (lead ions and a solution of anionic synthetic surfactants). In plants, there is a decrease in the activity of molecular transport, inhibition of H+-ATPase, leading to a decrease in the pH of the cytoplasm and activation of hydrolases, which enhance the breakdown of biopolymers. This leads to changes in the expression of individual genes and increased synthesis of a number of stress proteins. Under these conditions, the assembly of cytoskeletal elements is activated, the structures of membrane proteins and lipids change, the level of ATP decreases, free radical processes are activated and the intensity of photosynthesis is inhibited.