Impact of tetracycline on basil and its remediation potential

Over the past decade presence of antibiotics in soil and water is a major environmental concern which needs to be address on a priority basis. The present study was done to evaluate the potential of basil (Ocimum basilicum) for phytoremediation. A greenhouse study was conducted for removal of tetracycline from soil. The plants were grown with 200 mg kg-1, 400 mg kg-1 and 600 mg kg-1 of tetracycline for four weeks (4W). The accumulation of tetracycline in shoot and root was observed with HPTLC in which the plant showed 97 % remediation capability with 200 mg kg-1 of tetracycline treated plants. Secondary metabolites are lepoxygenase pathway products in stress condition which was analyzed by GC-MS. Alpha-terpineol and methyl acetate completely degraded in all samples, while they were present in plants grown without tetracycline. This could be because antibiotic treatments are the most sensitive indicators of production of lipoxygenase pathway products, while in some cases secondary metabolites increased as the tetracycline concentrations increases, although the content was very low. The aim of the current work was the use of plant-based system for phytoremediation and toxicological impact of tetracycline on basil.