Abstract
Cynara cardunculus L. is a multipurpose crop, characterized by high production of biomass suitable for energy purposes and green chemistry. Taking advantage of its already demonstrated ability to grow in polluted environments that characterize many world marginal lands, the aim of this work was to investigate the response of different cardoon genotypes to exposure to cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) pollution, in order to use this crop for rehabilitation of contaminated sites and its biomass for energy production. In this study, seeds of two wild cardoon accessions harvested in rural and industrial Sicilian areas and of a selected line of domestic cardoon were used, and the grown plants were spiked with As and Cd, alone or in combination, at two different concentrations (500 and 2000 μM) and monitored for 45 days. The growth parameters showed that all the plants survived until the end of experiment, with growth stimulation in the presence of low concentrations of As and Cd, relative to metal-free controls. Biomass production was mostly allocated in the roots in As treatment and in the shoots in Cd treatment. Cd EXAFS analysis showed that tolerance to high concentrations of both metals was likely linked to complexation of Cd with oxygen-containing ligands, possibly organic acids, in both root and leaf biomass with differences in behaviour among genotypes. Under As+Cd contamination, the ability of the plants to translocate As to aboveground system increased also showing that, for both metal(loid)s, there were significant differences between genotypes studied. Moreover, the results showed that Cynara cardunculus var. sylvestris collected in an industrial area is the genotype that, among those studied, had the best phytoextraction capability for each metal(loid).
Highlights
Responsible Editor: Elena MaestriHeavy metals and metalloids pollution is a major environmental and human health problem in all industrialized countries resulting from industrial activities, modern agricultural practices and mining (Adriano 2001; Miguel and Marum 2011; Pérez-Sirvent et al 2012; Fernández et al 2013; Guarino et al 2018; Sahito et al 2021)
Phytoremediation is a biological technique that uses such plants to remediate soils contaminated with trace metals; the choice of plant depends on a variety of factors, including high biomass production and high metal tolerance
No visible toxicity symptoms were observed, and all the leaves were similar to the control
Summary
Responsible Editor: Elena MaestriHeavy metals and metalloids pollution is a major environmental and human health problem in all industrialized countries resulting from industrial activities, modern agricultural practices and mining (Adriano 2001; Miguel and Marum 2011; Pérez-Sirvent et al 2012; Fernández et al 2013; Guarino et al 2018; Sahito et al 2021). High concentrations of trace elements in agroecosystems influence the growth and development of the plants through negative impacts on processes such as respiration, photosynthesis, electron transport and cell division (Wójcik et al 2009; Pourrut et al 2011; Muszyńska and Hanus-Fajerska 2015), different plant species are able to tolerate them, survive, grow, and reproduce on soils contaminated with heavy metals and metalloids (Muszyńska and HanusFajerska 2015). Phytoremediation is a biological technique that uses such plants to remediate soils contaminated with trace metals; the choice of plant depends on a variety of factors, including high biomass production and high metal tolerance
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