Abstract
There is much concern about the cleanup of toxic contaminants in the environment as human activities increase. The objective of this research was to study the effects of different rates (0, 0.3 and 0.5 g·L−1) of (CuCl2) used for irrigation and its translocation in shoots and roots of three varieties: Romaine lettuce (local), Redina lettuce (red) and iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) after 97 days. There was a significant difference in fresh weight and dry weigh for all varieties of lettuce. Differential accumulation and translocation of copper (Cu) in the root and leaf of vegetables were investigated using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Red plant accumulated higher amounts of Cu (1.89 mg·kg−1) in root and (0.71 mg·kg−1) in shoot compared to the other three plant species. The accumulation coefficient (AC) and translocation factor (TF) of Cu in three varieties was higher in red followed by local and iceberg. At high concentrations (CuCl2: 0.5 g·L−1), the light micrographs obtained from the leaf samples of copper-treated plants showed changes and a reduction in the number and the distribution of chloroplasts in palisade and spongy parenchyma cells. All cultivars were able to accumulate significant amounts of Cu, but they have severe symptoms of phytotoxicity when the copper concentration was high.
Highlights
Heavy metal accumulation in soils is one of the concerns in agricultural production due to the adverse effects on food quality and crop growth [1]
There was a little chlorosis of the leaves accompanied by a pale fresh and dry weight (Figures 1–4)
The research data indicated that Lactuca sativa is not a proper candidate for phytoremediation of soils with high copper concentrations
Summary
Heavy metal accumulation in soils is one of the concerns in agricultural production due to the adverse effects on food quality and crop growth [1]. Metal-accumulating plants are directly or indirectly responsible for much of the dietary uptake of toxic heavy metals by humans and other animals [2]. All heavy metals at high concentrations have strong toxic effects on biota and are regarded as environmental pollutants [4]. This contamination can be dangerous for human health, being that lettuce is one the most consumed vegetables [5]. Cu acts as a structural element in regulatory proteins and participates in photosynthetic electron transport, mitochondrial respiration, oxidative stress responses, cell wall metabolism and hormone signaling [7,8]
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