Variations in phthalate ester (PAE) accumulation and their formation mechanism in Chinese flowering cabbage (Brassica parachinensis L.) cultivars grown on PAE-contaminated soils

Phthalate ester (PAE) accumulation in crops poses great risks to human health and has aroused great concern. Here, we investigated variations in di-n-butylphthalate (DBP) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) accumulation by various Chinese flowering cabbage cultivars and revealed their variation mechanism. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in shoot PAE concentrations of 28 cultivars. Moreover, significant positive correlations between DBP and DEHP concentrations in shoots of all cultivars indicated that they could be taken up simultaneously by various cultivars. Due to the lower translocation factor of low-PAE accumulator, its shoot PAEs concentrations were much lower than root compared to high-PAE accumulator. Further, subcellular distribution showed that PAE concentrations of root cell walls and organelles were much higher than those of shoots in low-PAE accumulator. Therefore, lower translocation from root to shoot and more PAEs accumulating in cell walls and organelles of root might act as main formation mechanism of low-PAE accumulator.