Shuhe Wei

A newly-discovered Cd-hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum L.

A systematic investigation was conducted to screen for cadmium-hyperaccumulator from 54 species in 20 weed families using outdoor pot-culture experiment and small-scale field experiment. The results from the outdoor pot-culture experiment showed that Cd concentrations in the stems and leaves of Solatium nigrum L. growing in a soil spiked with 25 mg/kg Cd were up to 103.8 and 124.6 mg/kg (DW), respectively, which was greater than 100 mg/kg, minimum Cd concentration for a Cd-hyperaccumulator. The Cd enrichment factor (EF, concentration ratio in plant to soil) in shoots was as high as 2.68. Moreover, Cd accumulation in shoots was greater than that in roots (TF, concentration ratio in shoots to roots) and the plant biomass growth was not inhibited at the Cd concentrations tested compared with the control. The results of the small-scale field experiment also showed that the characteristics of Cd accumulation in S. nigrum were all consistent with the characteristics of Cd-hyperaccumulators. Thus S. nigrum can be classified as a Cd-hyperaccumulator. This work is important for further research in the areas of hyperaccumulators screening, and plant-tolerance physiology and evolution. It provides a patentable new plant species for phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soils.

Identification of weed species with hyperaccumulative characteristics of heavy metals

Abstract In order to promote the effective and economic remediation of soilscontaminated with single Cd and Cd combined with Pb, Cu and Zn, afield-screening study on weed hyperaccumulators was carried out on the basis of field pot-culture experiments used to determine characteristics of weed plants enduring and accumulating heavy metals. In this study, 54 weed species belonging to 20 families from agricultural fields of the Shengyang suburbs were tested. The results showed that Taraxacum mongolicum, Solanum nigrum and Conyza canadensis could strongly tolerate single Cd and Cd-Pb-Cu-Zncombined pollution, had high Cd-accumulative ability, and generally possessed basic characteristics of hyperaccumulators. Because there are synergic and antagonistic effects among Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn, single-factor pollution tests should be done as well as combined pollution tests during the identification of hyperaccumulators to ensure the efficiency of phytoremediation and the practical significance of hyperaccumulators ident...

Lead accumulation in different Chinese cabbage cultivars and screening for pollution-safe cultivars.

Recently, the concept of pollution-safe cultivars (PSCs) was proposed to minimize the influx of pollutants to the human food chain. Variations in lead (Pb) uptake and translocation among Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis L.) cultivars were investigated in a pot-culture experiment and a field-culture experiment to screen out Pb-PSCs for food safety. The results of the pot-culture experiment showed that shoot Pb concentrations under two Pb treatments (500 and 1500mgkg(-1)) varied significantly (p<0.05) between cultivars, with average values of 3.01 and 6.87mgkg(-1), respectively. Enrichment factors (EFs) and translocation factors (TFs) in cultivars were less than 0.50 and varied significantly (p<0.05) between cultivars. Shoot Pb concentrations in 12 cultivars under treatment T(1) (500mgkg(-1)) were lower than 2.0mgkg(-1). The field-culture experiment further confirmed Qiuao, Shiboqiukang and Fuxing 80 as Pb-PSCs, which were suitable to be cultivated in low-Pb (<382.25mgkg(-1)) contaminated soils and harmless to human health as foods.

Effect of fertilizer amendments on phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soil by a newly discovered hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum L.

Phytoremediation is a cost-effective, simple and sustainable beneficiary technique to purify the polluted environment. Solanum nigrum L., a newly found cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulator, has shown the potential to remediate Cd-contaminated soils. Present study investigated the effects of fertilizer amendments on the Cd uptake by S. nigrum. Chicken manure and urea are usual agricultural fertilizers and more environmental friendly. The results showed that Cd concentrations in shoots of S. nigrum were significantly decreased (p<0.05) by 28.2-34.6%, as compared to that of without the addition of chicken manure, but not the case for urea treatment. However, Cd extraction capacities (microg pot(-1)) in shoot biomass of S. nigrum were significantly increased (p<0.05) due to increased shoot biomass. In addition, available Cd concentration in soil significantly decreased due to addition of chicken manure. Thus, urea might be a better fertilizer for strengthening phytoextraction rate of S. nigrum to Cd, and chicken manure may be a better fertilizer for phytostabilization.

A newly found cadmium accumulator-Taraxacum mongolicum

Identification of hyperaccumulator and accumulator is still key step of phytoextracting-contaminated soils by heavy metals. In a former published experiment, Taraxacum mongolicum showed basic characteristics of hyperaccumulators. In order to confirm if this plant was a Cd-hyperaccumulator, concentration gradient experiment and sample-analyzing experiments were designed and performed. The results showed that Cd enrichment factor and Cd transformation factor of T. mongolicum were all higher than 1 in concentration gradient experiment. The shoot biomasses did not reduced significantly (p<0.05) compared with the control without Cd added under the conditions of lower than 25 mgkg(-1) Cd spiked into soil. However, Cd concentration in shoot of T. mongolicum was not higher than 100 mgkg(-1) the minimum a Cd-hyperaccumulator should have under the conditions of any concentration level of Cd spiked. Thus, T. mongolicum should be a Cd-accumulator. In the sample-analyzing experiments settled in a Pb-Zn mine area and Shenyang wastewater irrigation region, T. mongolicum also showed that Cd-accumulator characteristics. Based on these results, T. mongolicum could be identified as a Cd-accumulator, which may have important implication in plant physiology and gene engineering.

Sulfate and glutathione enhanced arsenic accumulation by arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata L.

This experiment examined the effects of sulfate (S) and reduced glutathione (GSH) on arsenic uptake by arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata after exposing to arsenate (0, 15 or 30 mg As L(-1)) with sulfate (6.4, 12.8 or 25.6 mg S L(-1)) or GSH (0, 0.4 or 0.8 mM) for 2-wk. Total arsenic, S and GSH concentrations in plant biomass and arsenic speciation in the growth media and plant biomass were determined. While both S (18-85%) and GSH (77-89%) significantly increased arsenic uptake in P. vittata, GSH also increased arsenic translocation by 61-85% at 0.4 mM (p < 0.05). Sulfate and GSH did not impact plant biomass or arsenic speciation in the media and biomass. The S-induced arsenic accumulation by P. vittata was partially attributed to increased plant GSH (21-31%), an important non-enzymatic antioxidant countering oxidative stress. This experiment demonstrated that S and GSH can effectively enhance arsenic uptake and translocation by P. vittata.

Chemical-Assisted Phytoremediation of Cd-PAHs Contaminated Soils Using Solanum Nigrum L.

A well-characterized cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulating plant Solanum nigrum was grown in Cd and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) co-contaminated soil that was repeatedly amended with chemicals, including EDTA, cysteine (CY), salicylic acid (Sa), and Tween 80 (TW80), to test individual and combined treatment effects on phytoremediation of Cd-PAHs contaminated soils. Plant growth was negatively affected by exogenous chemicals except for EDTA. S. nigrum could accumulate Cd in tissues without assistant chemicals, while there was no visible effect on the degradation of PAHs. Cysteine had significant effects on phytoextraction of Cd and the highest metal extraction ratio (1.27%) was observed in 0.9 mmol/kg CY treatment. Both salicylic acid and Tween 80 had stimulative effects on the degradation of PAHs and there was the maximal degradation rate (52.6%) of total PAHs while 0.9 mmol/kg Sa was applied. Furthermore, the combined treatment T0.1EDTA+0.9CY+0.5TW80 and T0.5EDTA+0.9CY+0.3Sa could not only increase the accumulation of Cd in plant tissues, but also promote the degradation of PAHs. These results indicated that S. nigrum might be effective in phytoextracting Cd and enhancing the biodegradation of PAHs in the co-contaminated soils with assistant chemicals.

Removal of trace metals and improvement of dredged sediment dewaterability by bioleaching combined with Fenton-like reaction

Bioleaching by Aspergillus niger strain SY1 combined with Fenton-like reaction was optimized to improve trace metal removal and dewaterability of dredged sediments. The major optimized parameters were the duration of bioleaching and H₂O₂ dose in Fenton-like process (5 days and 2g H₂O₂/L, respectively). Bioleaching resulted in the removal of ≈90% of Cd, ≈60% of Zn and Cu, ≈20% of Pb, and in decrease of sediment pH from 6.6 to 2.5 due to organic acids produced by A. niger. After addition of H₂O₂, Fenton-like reaction was initiated and further metal removal occurred. Overall efficiency of the combined process comprised: (i) reduction of Cd content in sediment by 99.5%, Cu and Zn by >70% and Pb by 39% as a result of metal release bound in all mobilizable fractions; (ii) decrease of sediment capillary suction time (CST) from 98.2s to 10.1s (by 89.8%) and specific resistance to filtration (SRF) from 37.4×10(12)m/kg to 6.2×10(12)m/kg (by 83.8%), due to reducing amount of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) by 68.7% and bound water content by 79.1%. The combined process was found to be an efficient method to remove trace metals and improve dewaterability of contaminated dredged sediments.

Tolerant mechanisms of Rorippa globosa (Turcz.) Thell. hyperaccumulating Cd explored from root morphology

Hoagland solution was used to determine the root morphology properties of Rorippa globosa (Turcz.) Thell. and Rorippa palustris (Leyss.) Bess. Under the conditions of Cd spiked at 2.5 and 5 mg kg(-1), R. globosa showed all hyperaccumulative characteristics and was a Cd-hyperaccumulator. In contrast, R. palustris was a non-hyperaccumulator. The total root lengths, total root surface areas and total root volumes of R. globosa were not significantly decreased (p<0.05) compared to the control when 2.5 and 5 mg kg(-1) of Cd added. However, these 3 indexes of R. palustris were all significantly decreased (p<0.05) when 2.5, 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg kg(-1) Cd added compared its control. The average root diameters of R. palustris and R. globosa were not affected by Cd. These results showed that root morphology might be a factor of plant with strong tolerance to Cd.

Poultry manured Bidens tripartite L. extracting Cd from soil - potential for phytoremediating Cd contaminated soil.

Pot experiment was conducted in a net house to evaluate the effects of poultry manure on a newly found Cd accumulator Bidens tripartite L. phytoextraction potential to soil Cd pollution. The average Cd concentrations in root, stem, leaf, inflorescence and shoots of poultry manured B. tripartite were significantly decreased (p<0.05) by 35.5%, 34.4%, 31.0%, 46.5% and 22.6%, respectively, as compared to that of without the addition of poultry manure due to the decrease of extractable Cd in soil. However, Cd extraction capacities (microgpot(-1)) in shoot of B. tripartite were significantly increased (p<0.05) due to more than 4-fold increase in shoot biomass. Thus, poultry manure application lowered extractable Cd in soil thereby significantly decreased its uptake, however increased plant biomass and enhanced the Cd phytoextracting efficiency.