Antimony is primarily present in rocks, volcanic gasses and water. It is a common contaminant of coal and oil. Although it is considered as geochemical non-mobile element, it enters the environments from natural as well as anthropogenic sources, e.g. industry, agriculture, traffic and burning of fossil fuels. It is present in relatively low concentrations in lakes, rivers and drinking water. Antimony is dangerous metalloid with potential carcinogenic effect on living organisms. Plants take up Sb from soil solution by roots and it can substitute other essential elements, like phosphorus, and therefore it might be phytotoxic. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the phytotoxic effect of antimony on growth and performance of Arundo donax, a fast growing grass suitable for phytoremediation of contaminated sites. The rooted cuttings were grown in perlite regularly watered with nutrient solution (control) and with the same nutrient solution containing 10 mg kg^-1 Sb (Sb treatment) for 5 month in controlled environmental conditions. At the end of the experiment the growth of roots and shoots was compared. The uptake of Sb and selected other elements in roots and shoots, content of photosynthetic pigments in leaves and leaf photosynthetic performance, as well as anatomy of plant tissues was investigated. We found that antimony reduced the growth of plants and was accumulated mostly in root tissues. Antimony significantly reduced photosynthetic pigments, although the analysis of chlorophyll fluorescence revealed that the photosynthesis was only partially affected by presence of this element. Additionally, some anatomical alterations of root and shoot tissues has been documented, too. Although presence of Sb induced some phytotoxic symptoms, the potential use of this fast growing species for phytoremediation of Sb-contaminated sites might be considered.

The work was supported by Slovak grant agency VEGA, grant Nr. VEGA 2/0018/17 and Slovak Research and Development Agency APVV under the contracts Nr. APVV-17-0164, APVV SK-PL-18-0078.