Effects of di-butyl phthalate on in vitro morphogenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana

Di-butyl phthalate (DBP) is one of the common environmental contaminants found both in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. However, little is known about its effects on plant morphogenesis. We report here a study examining the effects of DBP on morphogenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana. When stems and laminae of Arabidopsis were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 6-benzyl aminopurine (6-BA, 2 mg L^-1) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA, 0.2 mg L^-1), both produced callus and some shoots. However, the presence of 1mgL^-1 DBP in the above medium inhibited formation of callus by stems and laminae, and eventually led to the death of the callus, indicating that DBP inhibited the de-differentiation and differentiation of Arabidopsis stem and laminae explants. Transmission electronic microscopy showed that DBP caused membrane and organelle disruption, which might explain the failure of cell division in treated tissues.