The
potential risks of micro/nanoplastics on the ecological environment,
particularly aquatic fauna, have been realized in recent years. However,
information about its potential effects on aquatic plants is scarce.
In this study, a four-week exposure experiment was conducted to investigate
the effects of varying polystyrene nanoplastics concentration (PS-NPs,
0–100 μg/mL) on the early development of an endangered
aquatic plant, Ceratopteris pteridoides. Fluorescent
observations demonstrated that PS-NPs were adsorbed and accumulated
on the spore surface of C. pteridoides rapidly and
massively with increasing exposure concentration and time. The adsorption
and accumulation of PS-NPs on the spore surface posed a negative effect
on spore imbibition, causing 2.3–22.4% reduction in final spore
size. Spore germination and gametophyte sex differentiation were both
negatively affected by PS-NP exposure, resulting in 10.4–88.0%
inhibition in germination ratio and 2.9–53.4% reduction in
hermaphroditic gametophyte ratio. Additionally, PS-NPs were observed
to penetrate into the roots of gametophytes. Higher concentration
of PS-NPs (100 μg/mL) can even induce pathological changes on
gametophytes, although with a low incidence (4.9%). The results above
indicated that exposure to PS-NPs caused a series of disruptions from
the spore imbibition to germination and gametophyte stages, and are
likely to pose an eco-physiological risk on the reproductive success
of endangered ferns.