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Physiological and Cytological Responses of Deschampsia cespitosa and Populus tremuloides to Soil Metal Contamination

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Abstract

Soil metal contamination represents serious threats to plant ecosystem sustainability. Knowledge of metal distribution in plants and the effects of long-term exposure to high levels of metals on cytological stability in Deschampsia cespitosa and Populus tremuloides population is limited. The objective of the present study was to determine how D. cespitosa and P. tremuloides plants cope with soil metal contamination. The effects of high copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) soil concentrations on cytological stability were also analyzed. The results provide strong evidence that D. cespitosa plants cope with metal contaminations by accumulating them in their root system with limited translocation to their aerial plant parts. Metal bioaccumulation factors were high with values of 5.53 (Cu), 35.19 (Fe), 151.21 (Mg), 24.38 (Ni), and 27.42 (Zn). On the other hand, the bioaccumulation factors in P. tremuloides were 0.42 (Cu), 1.67 (Fe), 4.77 (Mg), 0.94 (Ni), and 5.53 (Zn). The translocation factors (TFs) from roots to leaves for poplar (P. tremuloides) were high for Ni (8.38) and low for Cu (0.71). Cytological analysis clearly showed that long exposure of roots to high levels of metal contamination lead to significant mitotic disruption. Overall, 100 % of the plants from metal-contaminated sites showed a high level of mixoploidy compared to 17 % from the reference sites. Lagging chromosomes in mitotic anaphase were observed in most of the plants from metal-contaminated sites. These mitotic abnormalities appear to have no detectable effects on plant growth and survival.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Vale (Sudbury) and Glencore (Sudbury) for financial support to KKN to conduct this research, and to NSERC for a Fellowship to MMS. The Forest Resources & Soil Testing (FoReST) Laboratory, Faculty of Natural Resources Management (Lakehead University Center for Analytical Services (LUCAS)), Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada are acknowledged for their assistance with the metal analyses. Dr. Peter Beckett is acknowledged for D. cespitosa site location and Ms. Ramya Narendrula and Mr. Paul Michael for technical assistance with sample processing and data analysis.

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  1. Department of Biology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada

    Melanie Mehes-Smith & Kabwe K. Nkongolo

  2. Biomolecular Sciences Program, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada

    Melanie Mehes-Smith & Kabwe K. Nkongolo

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  1. Melanie Mehes-Smith
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Correspondence to Kabwe K. Nkongolo.

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Mehes-Smith, M., Nkongolo, K.K. Physiological and Cytological Responses of Deschampsia cespitosa and Populus tremuloides to Soil Metal Contamination. Water Air Soil Pollut 226, 125 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2382-x

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