Cadmium tolerance, distribution, and accumulation in Taraxacum ohwianum Kitam. as a potential Cd-hyperaccumulator

Rhizophagus irregularis enhances tolerance to cadmium stress by altering host plant hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) photosynthetic properties

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widespread and specialized soil symbiotic fungi, and the establishment of their symbiotic system is of great importance for adversity adaptation. To reveal the growth and photosynthetic characteristics of AMF-crop symbionts in response to heavy metal stress, this experiment investigated the effects of Rhizophagus irregularis (Ri) inoculation on the growth, photosynthetic gas exchange parameters, and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) at a Cd concentration of 80 mg/kg. The results showed that (1) under Cd stress, the biomass of each plant structure in the Ri treatment was significantly higher than that in the noninoculation treatment (P < 0.05); (2) under Cd stress, the transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate, PSII efficiency, apparent electron transport rate and photochemical quenching coefficient of the Ri inoculation group reached a maximum, with increases ranging from 1% to 28%; (3) inoculation of Ri significantly reduced Cd enrichment in leaves, which in turn significantly increased the transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, electron transfer rate, net photosynthetic rate and photosynthetic intensity, protecting PSII (P < 0.05); and (4) by measuring the light response curves of different treatments, the light saturation points of hemp inoculated with the Ri treatment reached 1448.4 μmol/m²/s, and the optical compensation point reached 24.0 μmol/m²/s under Cd stress. The Ri-hemp symbiont demonstrated high adaptability to weak light and high utilization efficiency of strong light under Cd stress. Our study showed that Ri-hemp symbiosis improves adaptation to Cd stress and promotes plant growth by regulating the photosynthetic gas exchange parameters and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of plants. The Ri-hemp symbiosis is a promising technology for improving the productivity of Cd-contaminated soil.

Phytoremediation of Cadmium Polluted Soils: Current Status and Approaches for Enhancing

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal present in atmosphere, rocks, sediments, and soils without a known role in plants. It is relatively mobile and can easily enter from soil into groundwater and contaminate the food chain. Its presence in food in excess amounts may cause severe conditions in humans, therefore prevention of cadmium entering the food chain and its removal from contaminated soils are important steps in preserving public health. In the last several years, several approaches for Cd remediation have been proposed, such as the use of soil amendments or biological systems for reduction of Cd contamination. One of the approaches is phytoremediation, which involves the use of plants for soil clean-up. In this review we summarized current data on the use of different plants in phytoremediation of Cd as well as information about different approaches which have been used to enhance phytoremediation. This includes data on the increasing metal bioavailability in the soil, plant biomass, and plant accumulation capacity as well as seed priming as a promising novel approach for phytoremediation enhancing.

Evaluation of the metal(loid)s phytoextraction potential of wild plants grown in three antimony mines in southern China

Wild plant species from three deserted antimony (Sb) mine areas in southern China were collected to measure eight metal(loid)s. Antimony, As (arsenic), Cd (cadmium), Cr (chromium), Cu (copper), Ni (nickel), Pb (lead), and Zn (zinc) concentrations in plants and soil were analyzed. The soils of the mining area was weakly alkaline and contained toxic levels of Sb, As, Pb, Cd, and Zn. Many plant species in the area (40 species and 19 families) have no clear signs of toxicity. The plants were divided into three categories (high, moderate, and low tendency to accumulate metals) based on their (ratio [RT], bioaccumulation factor [BCF], translocation factor [TF]) values. The plants with a high accumulation tendency exhibited the high potential to absorb Sb from contaminated soil; therefore, they can be used for the remediation or phytoremediation of Sb-contaminated soil.

Morphological and Physiological Changes of Broussonetia papyrifera Seedlings in Cadmium Contaminated Soil

Broussonetia papyrifera is a widely distributed economic tree species, and it is also a pioneer species in adverse environments. In order to investigate the growth and adaptation mechanism of B. papyrifera under cadmium (Cd) contaminated soil, potted experiments were used with six-month treatments to study Cd enrichment and the transportation, morphological and physiological characteristics of B. papyrifera tissues. The results showed that Cd mainly accumulated in the root when the Cd concentration was high (14.71 mg/kg), and the root biomass was significantly reduced by Cd stress although Cd promoted the growth of seedlings. The bioconcentration factors (BCF) increased with the increase in Cd concentration, and reached the maximum value of 0.21 at 14.71 mg/kg. On the contrary, translocation factor (TF) decreased significantly at 8.28–14.71 mg/kg Cd concentration. Cd not only led to the loose arrangement of the xylem vessels of leaves, but also changed the chlorophyll content. However, B. papyrifera could synthesize organic solutes such as soluble protein, soluble sugar and proline to reduce the intracellular osmotic potential. Our study proved that B. papyrifera has good tolerance to Cd stress and is a pioneer tree species for soil and ecological environment restoration.

Phytoremediation of metal-contaminated rare-earth mining sites using Paspalumconjugatum

Over-exploitation of rare-earth elements causes cadmium (Cd)- and lead (Pb)-contamination of rare-earth mine tailings. Here, Paspalum conjugatum was used as a hyperaccumulating perennial herb to evaluate its phytoextraction potential for removing metals in a hydroponic experiment. Further, an in-situ experiment was conducted for two years (2016-2018) to investigate the potential of P. conjugatum for reducing soil metal concentrations and to assess microbiome recovery on abandoned rare-earth mining land. Pinus massoniana was used for control treatments. We found that P. conjugatum produced metal transfer coefficients of 0.85 and 0.89 for Cd and Pb, respectively. The concentrations of Cd and Pb accumulated in P. conjugatum were 98.33 mg kg^-1 and 137 mg kg^-1, respectively. Using P. conjugatum, soil Pb and Cd concentrations were significantly decreased, and Cd concentrations approached acceptable levels (0.209 mg kg^-1). The bacterial diversity in P. conjugatum-restored soil was higher than that in soil of P. massoniana. The bacterial genera Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria were predominant in the restored soils. P. conjugatum was tolerant to drought and exhibited enhanced enzymatic activity. These results suggest that P. conjugatum can be used for efficient phytoremediation of Pb- and Cd-contaminated soils.

Physiological and molecular mechanism of cadmium (Cd) tolerance at initial growth stage in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Cadmium (Cd) contaminated soil has threatened plant growth and human health. Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), an ideal plant for phytoremediation, is an important source of edible vegetable oil, vegetable, animal fodder, green manure and biodiesel. For safe utilization of Cd polluted soil, physiological, biochemical, and molecular techniques have been used to understand mechanisms of Cd tolerance in B. napus. However, most of these researches have concentrated on vegetative and adult stages, just a few reports focus on the initial growth stage. Here, the partitioning of cadmium, gene expression level and activity of enzymatic antioxidants of H18 (tolerant genotype) and P9 (sensitive genotype) were investigated under 0 and 30 mg/L Cd stress at seedling establishment stage. Results shown that the radicle length of H18 and P9 under Cd stress were decreased by 30.33 (0.01 < P < 0.05) and 88.89% (P < 0.01) respectively. Cd concentration at cotyledon not radicle and hypocotyl in P9 was significantly higher than that in H18. The expression level of BnaHMA4c, which plays a key role in root-to-shoot translocation of Cd, was extremely higher in P9 than in H18 under both normal and Cd stress conditions. We also found that SOD, CAT and POD were more active in responding to Cd stress after 48 h, and the activity of SOD and CAT in H18 were higher than that in P9 at all observed time points. In conclusion, high activity of enzymatic antioxidants at initial Cd stress stage is the main detoxification mechanism in Cd-tolerant rapeseed, while the higher Cd transfer coefficient, driven by higher expression level of BnaHMA4c is the main mechanism for surviving radicle from initial Cd toxicity in Cd-sensitive rapeseed.

Dandelion is more tolerant to cadmium than to nickel excess

Comparative accumulation of cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) and the consequences for the metabolism of common weed dandelion (triploid ones of Taraxacum sect. Taraxacum) were studied here for the first time. Cd accumulated more in both shoots and roots (489 and 2486 μg/g DW) than Ni (165 and 858 μg/g DW) after 14 days of exposure and only root Ni content did not increase between 7 and 14 days of exposure. Surprisingly, though Ni was less accumulated than Cd, it had more negative impact on basic physiology (root dry biomass, shoot water content and chlorophyll amount). Ni also evoked more extensive depression of mineral nutrients (K, Ca, Mg, and Mn) in the shoots than Cd while root potassium content was elevated by both metals. Ni suppressed accumulation of total thiols but anatomical changes and ROS formation (detected by fluorescence microscopy of total ROS and lipid peroxidation) were induced more by Cd. Total soluble phenols, major (caftaric and cichoric) and minor (chlorogenic and caffeic) phenolic acids were elevated by both metals and rather increased with prolonged exposure in the shoots (14 versus 7 days). On the contrary, typically depletion of these metabolites was found in the roots after prolonged exposure to Ni, but not to Cd. Data showed distinct toxicity of Cd and Ni in dandelion. More expressive tolerance of dandelion to Cd than to Ni indicates its potential use for the remediation of Cd-contaminated environment.