Effect of endocrine disruptor nonylphenol on physiologic features and proteome during growth in Arabidopsis thaliana

► The damage of nonylphenol (NP) on Arabidopsis thaliana has been studied for the first time. ► The plants showed worse physiologic features with increased NP concentration. ► NP caused a decrease in chlorophyll levels and an increase in proline accumulated in leaves. ► NP caused oxidative stress on A. thaliana. ► NP might adversely affect the activities of particular proteins. We studied the effects of nonylphenol (NP) on physiological features and proteome of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) during growth. Shoot biomass, root biomass and root length were decreased after 10d of NP treatment, especially in high NP concentration treatment (10 and 50mgL−1). Levels of chlorophyll decreased but proline increased in leaves. NP caused oxidative stress; malondialdehyde content was increased with NP treatment, and the activities of ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, CuZnSOD and MnSOD were induced in leaves. The proteome of leaf tissue was analyzed by 2-D gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. NP might adversely affect the CO2 assimilation, signal transduction, the endomembrane system and photosynthetic oxygen evolution. NP affects the proteome and physiologic and morphological features of A. thaliana during growth at the concentration can be observed in the environment. Because plants might be exposed to NP for a long time in the surroundings, more attention needs to be paid to the effect of NP on plants.