Roxithromycin, livestock growth promoter, as widely used medicine and arouses concern because its occurrence and persistence in soil environments. However, effects of roxithromycin in higher plants are still vague. Accordingly, we hypothesized that roxithromycin-con- taminated soil may exhibits ecotoxicological effects in wheat （Triticum aestivum）. In this study, effects induced by a gradient concentration of roxithromycin stress （0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 mg.kg-1） was investigated in a 7-d soil test in T. aestivum. Results indicated that the specific activity of cytochrome P450 （CYP450） monooxygenase was decreased dramatically with the concentration of roxithro- mycin in soil. The IC50 value was 8.78mg.kg-1 of roxithromycin. On the contrary, the growth related endpoints （i.e., the germination percentage, the biomass and the height）, the content related endpoints （i.e., soluble protein content and CYP450 content）, and the superoxide dismutase （SOD） activity failed to reveal the roxithromy- cin-induced effects. Further analysis revealed that the CYP450 monooxygenase specific activity reduction was enzymatic mechanism mediated, other than oxidative stress induced. We conclude that the soil roxithromycin declined the CYP450 monooxygenase activity in T. aestivum by the inhibition of the enzymatic mechanism. Further efforts can include, but are not limited to, investigation of joint effects induced by combined exposure of roxithromycin and the pesticides and evalua- tion of the similar effects in other higher plants.
