Zhao, J.; Pan, W.; Chen, Y.; Cui, X.; Fu, H.; Luo, Y.; Chen, Z.; Huang, N.; Hu, Y.; Qin, Y.; Yu, G.; Ren, Z.; Wang, W.; Lei, X.; Liu, B.

The emerging contaminant 6:2 chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonate (6:2 Cl-PFAES/F-53B) has been detected in many plant species, raising a serious concern for its global contamination. However, the impact of F-53B on the development in plants and the underpinning mechanisms remain largely unelucidated. In this study, we demonstrate by molecular biology, cytogenetics, and fluorescence microscopy mythologies that F-53B impairs cell viability leading to disrupted root development in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We show that F-53B suppresses root length and the inhibitory effect is pronunanced at increasing concentrations. F-53B disrupts cell wall and microtubule-mediated cell plate formation and configuration in meristem cells, revealing its toxicity to cell division and cytoskeleton organization. F-53B induces cell death predominantly at the meristematic zone, however, gene expression and genetic studies indicate that F-53B does not trigger DNA double-strand breaks, implying a divergent effect on DNA stability across species. Moreover, we show that F-53B damages nuclei stability and viability, and induces Autophagy-Related 8 protein foci formation implying that it triggers autophagy-mediated cell responses. Taken together, this study provides cellular and molecular insights into the toxicity of F-53B to plant cells, which highlights its damage to agriculture and ecology security that deserve imperative environmental management actions.