As-hyperaccumulator Pteris Vittata Research Articles

Sulfate and chromate increased each other's uptake and translocation in As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata

We investigated the effects of chromate (CrVI) and sulfate on their uptake and translocation in As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata. Plants were exposed to 1) 0.1 mM CrVI and 0, 0.25, 1.25 or 2.5 mM sulfate or 2) 0.25 mM sulfate and 0, 0.5, 2.5 or 5.0 mM CrVI for 1 d in hydroponics. P. vittata accumulated 26 and 1261 mg kg−1 Cr in the fronds and roots at CrVI0.1, and 2197 and 1589 mg kg−1 S in the fronds and roots at S0.25. Increasing sulfate concentrations increased Cr root concentrations by 16–66% and helped CrVI reduction to CrIII whereas increasing CrVI concentrations increased frond sulfate concentrations by 3–27%. Increasing sulfate concentrations enhanced TBARS concentrations in the biomass, indicating oxidative stress caused lipid peroxidation in plant cell membranes. However, addition of 0.25–2.5 mM sulfate alleviated CrVI's toxic effects and decreased TBARS from 23.5 to 9.46–12.3 μmol g−1 FW. Though CrVI was supplied, 78–96% of CrIII was in the biomass, indicating efficient CrVI reduction to CrIII by P. vittata. The data indicated the amazing ability of P. vittata in Cr uptake at 289 mg kg−1 h−1 with little translocation to the fronds. These results indicated that P. vittata had potential in Cr phytoremediation in contaminated sites but further studies are needed to evaluate this potential. The facts that CrVI and sulfate helped each other in uptake by P. vittata suggest that CrVI was not competing with sulfate uptake in P. vittata. However, the mechanisms of how sulfate and CrVI enhance each other's accumulation in P. vittata need further investigation.

High As exposure induced substantial arsenite efflux in As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata.

Arsenite (AsIII) efflux is an important mechanism for arsenic (As) detoxification in plants. Low AsIII efflux has been observed in As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata, which may contribute to its highly efficient As translocation and accumulation; however, the results may be compromised by microbial AsIII oxidation, relatively low As concentration in the medium and short-term As exposure. Here, sterile P. vittata sporophytes were cultivated in sterile medium containing 10, 200 and 500 µM arsenate (AsV) for 28 d. Arsenite efflux to the growth medium and As speciation in P. vittata was investigated. Low AsIII efflux at 12% of AsV uptake was observed at 10 µM AsV, but high AsIII efflux (36-76%) was observed at 200 and 500 µM AsV, with 1987-2397 mg kg(-1) As being accumulated in the fronds. This is the first report to show efficient AsIII efflux in P. vittata. This study showed that P. vittata may use high AsIII efflux to cope with As toxicity under high As exposure, which may be necessary to sustain growth while accumulating As.

Arsenic uptake, arsenite efflux and plant growth in hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata: Role of arsenic-resistant bacteria.

Bacteria-mediated arsenic (As) transformation and their impacts on As and P uptake and plant growth in As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (PV) were investigated under sterile condition. All As-resistant bacteria (9 endophytic and 6 rhizospheric) were As-reducers except one As-oxidizer. After growing two months in media with 37.5 mg kg(-1) AsV, As concentrations in the fronds and roots were 3655-5389 (89-91% AsIII) and 971-1467 mg kg(-1) (41-73% AsIII), corresponding to 22-52% decrease in the As in the media. Bacterial inoculation enhanced As and P uptake by up to 47 and 69%, and PV growth by 20-74%, which may be related to elevated As and P in plants (r = 0.88-0.97, p < 0.05). Though AsV was supplied, 95% of the As in the bacteria-free media was AsIII, suggesting efficient efflux of AsIII by PV roots (120 µg g(-1) root fw). This was supported by the fact that no AsV was detected in media inoculated with As-reducers while 95% of AsV was detected with As-oxidizer. Our data showed that, under As-stress, PV reduced As toxicity by efficient AsIII efflux into media and AsIII translocation to the fronds, and bacteria benefited PV growth probably via enhanced As and P uptake.

Arsenic transformation and plant growth promotion characteristics of As-resistant endophytic bacteria from As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata.

The ability of As-resistant endophytic bacteria in As transformation and plant growth promotion was determined. The endophytes were isolated from As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (PV) after growing for 60 d in a soil containing 200 mg kg(-1) arsenate (AsV). They were isolated in presence of 10 mM AsV from PV roots, stems, and leaflets, representing 4 phyla and 17 genera. All endophytes showed at least one plant growth promoting characteristics including IAA synthesis, siderophore production and P solubilization. The root endophytes had higher P solubilization ability than the leaflet (60.0 vs. 18.3 mg L(-1)). In presence of 10 mM AsV, 6 endophytes had greater growth than the control, suggesting As-stimulated growth. Furthermore, root endophytes were more resistant to AsV while the leaflet endophytes were more tolerant to arsenite (AsIII), which corresponded to the dominant As species in PV tissues. Bacterial As resistance was positively correlated to their ability in AsV reduction but not AsIII oxidation. The roles of those endophytes in promoting plant growth and As resistance in P. vittata warrant further investigation.

Arsenic extraction and speciation in plants: Method comparison and development

We compared four methods to extract arsenic (As) from three different plants containing different As levels for As speciation with the goal of developing a more efficient method, i.e., As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata at 459–7714mgkg−1, rice seedling at 53.4–574mgkg−1, and tobacco leaf at 0.32–0.35mgkg−1. The four methods included heating with dilute HNO3, and sonication with phosphate buffered solution, methanol/water, and ethanol/water, with As being analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC–ICP-MS). Among the four methods, the ethanol/water method produced the most satisfactory extraction efficiency (~80% for the roots and >85% for the fronds) without changing As species based on P. vittata. The lower extraction efficiency from P. vittata roots was attributed to its dominance by arsenate (82%) while arsenite dominated in the fronds (89%). The ethanol/water method used sample:solution ratio of 1:200 (0.05g:10mL) with 50% ethanol and 2h sonication. Based on different extraction times (0.5–2h), ethanol concentrations (25–100%) and sample:solution ratios (1:50–1:300), the optimized ethanol/water method used less ethanol (25%) and time (0.5h for the fronds and 2h for the roots). Satisfactory extraction was also obtained for tobacco leaf (78–92%) and rice seedlings (~70%) using the optimized method, which was better than the other three methods. Based on satisfactory extraction efficiency with little change in As species during extraction from three plants containing different As levels, the optimized method has the potential to be used for As speciation in other plants.

Chromate and phosphate inhibited each other's uptake and translocation in arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata L.

We investigated the effects of chromate (CrVI) and phosphate (P) on their uptake and translocation in As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (PV). Plants were exposed to 1) 0.10 mM CrVI and 0, 0.25, 1.25, or 2.50 mM P or 2) 0.25 mM P and 0, 0.50, 2.5 or 5.0 mM CrVI for 24 h in hydroponics. PV accumulated 2919 mg/kg Cr in the roots at CrVI0.10, and 5100 and 3500 mg/kg P in the fronds and roots at P0.25. When co-present, CrVI and P inhibited each other's uptake in PV. Increasing P concentrations reduced Cr root concentrations by 62–82% whereas increasing CrVI concentrations reduced frond P concentrations by 52–59% but increased root P concentrations by 11–15%. Chromate reduced P transport, with more P being accumulated in PV roots. Though CrVI was supplied, 64−78% and 92−93% CrIII were in PV fronds and roots. Based on X-ray diffraction, Cr2O3 was detected in the roots confirming CrVI reduction to CrIII by PV. In short, CrVI and P inhibited each other in uptake and translocation by PV, and CrVI reduction to CrIII in PV roots served as its detoxification mechanism. The finding helps to understand the interactions of P and Cr during their uptake in PV.

Impact of waterlogging on the uptake of arsenic by hyperaccumulator and tolerant plant

A significant proportion of arsenic (As)-contaminated sites are temporarily or permanently under reducing condition, which may affect phytoextraction efficiency using the As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata L. In this work, a pot experiment was conducted to investigate the solubility and redox species of As in soil. The uptake of As by two populations of P. vittata and As-tolerant grass Holcus lanatus under different water regimes was examined. Waterlogging decreased the redox potential from 350 to−50 mV, leading to an approximately 40% reduction of As(V) to As(III) and an increased dissolved As concentration by 150%–300%. The changes in the speciation and concentration of As influenced its uptake by plants. A population collected from a temporarily waterlogged riverside in Guangxi province (GX population) had ninefold higher shoot As concentration under the waterlogged condition than that under the non-waterlogged condition, indicating that it preferred taking up As in the form of As(III). By contrast, a population of P. vittata collected from a dry land in Yunnan province (YN population) and H. lanatus demonstrated a preference to As(V). The GX population was an appropriate species for the phytoextraction of waterlogged sites. These results implied the importance of habitat ecology on the extraction efficiency of hyperaccumulators.

Sparingly-Soluble Phosphate Rock Induced Significant Plant Growth and Arsenic Uptake by Pteris vittata from Three Contaminated Soils

We evaluated the ability of As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (PV) to remove As from As-contaminated soils over five harvests in 2.5 years in raised beds (162 kg soil/bed). We tested the hypothesis that a P-limiting environment would enhance PV growth and As uptake owing its unique ability to uptake P under As-rich environment. In Dec. 2009, PV was transplanted to three As-contaminated soils (pH of 5.5-7.2) containing 25-129 mg kg(-1) As, which was amended with sparingly-soluble phosphate rock (PR-soil) or soluble P fertilizer (P-soil). During the 2.5-year, PV obtained sufficient P (1882 vs 2225 mg kg(-1)) from PR-soils, with increased root biomass (33%) and root exudation (53%) compared to P-soils. In addition, its frond biomass increased by 20% consecutively with each harvest (six month interval) from 18 to 36 g plant(-1). Its frond biomass in PR-soils (52.2 g plant(-1) year(-1) or ∼12 mt ha(-1) year(-1)) averaged 39% more than that in P-soils. To our knowledge, this represented the largest PV frond biomass reported, demonstrating the unique ability of PV in using insoluble P from PR in alkaline soils. In addition to biomass increase, PV from PR-soils had ∼1.5 times more As in fronds (2540, 780, and 920 mg kg(-1)) than those from P-soils (1740, 570, and 400 mg kg(-1)), with soils containing 129, 25, and 30 mg kg(-1) As, respectively. The low available P in PR-soils induced substantial plant growth and As uptake by PV. This translated into significantly more As removal from soil, averaging 48% reduction in PR-soils and 36% in P-soils in 2.5 years. With multiple harvests and PR amendments, our results showed As removal by PV from contaminated soils was ∼7 times faster than published studies.

Phytofiltration of Arsenic-Contaminated Groundwater Using Pteris Vittata L.: Effect of Plant Density and Nitrogen and Phosphorus Levels

This field-scale hydroponic experiment investigated the effects of plant density and nutrient levels on arsenic (As) removal by the As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata L. (Chinese brake fern). All ferns were grown in plastic tanks containing 30 L of As-contaminated groundwater (130 μg·L−1 As) collected from South Florida. The treatments consisted of four plant densities (zero, one, two, or four plants per 30 L), two nitrogen (N) concentrations (50% or 100% of 0.25-strength Hoagland solution [HS]), and two phosphorous (P) concentrations (15% and 30% of 0.25 strength HS). While low P was more effective than high P for plant As removal initially, N levels showed little effect. At 15% P, it took 3 wk for the ferns at a plant density of four to reduce As to less than 10 μg L−1 (USEPA and WHO standard), whereas it took 4–6 wk at plant densities of one or two. For reused ferns, established plants with more extensive roots than “first-time” ferns, a low plant density of one plant/30 L was more effective, reducing As in water to less than 10 μg L−1 in 8 h. This translates to an As removal rate of 400 μg h−1plant−1, which is the highest rate reported to date. Arsenic-concentration in tanks with no plants as a control remained high throughout the experiment. Using more established ferns supplemented with dilute nutrients (0.25 HS with 25% N and 15% P) with optimized plant density (one plant per 30 L) reduced interplant competition and secondary contamination from nutrients, and can be recommended for phytofiltration of As-contaminated groundwater. This study demonstrated that P. vittata is effective in remediating As-contaminated groundwater to meet recommended standards.