Water, Air, and Soil Pollution

, Volume 180, Issue 1–4, pp 65–74 | Cite as

Effect of Bioaccumulation of Cs and Sr Natural Isotopes on Foliar Structure and Plant Spectral Reflectance of Indian Mustard (Brassica Juncea)

  • Yi Su
  • B. B. Maruthi Sridhar
  • F. X. Han
  • S. V. Diehl
  • D. L. Monts
Article
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Accepted:

Abstract

The objectives of this study are: (1) Evaluate the capacity of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) for uptake and accumulation of Cs and Sr natural isotopes. (2) Identify foliar structural and other physiological changes (biomass, relative water content etc.) resulted from the accumulation of these two elements. (3) Monitor the Cs and Sr uptake and bioaccumulation process by spectral reflectance. Potted Indian mustard plants were exposed to different concentrations of Cs (50 and 600 ppm) and Sr (50 and 300 ppm) natural isotopes in solution form for 23 days. Bioaccumulation of Cs and Sr were found in the order of leaves > stems > roots for both Cs- and Sr-treated plants. The highest leaf and root Sr accumulations are observed to be 2,708, and 1,194 mg kg−1, respectively; and the highest leaf and root Cs accumulations are 12,251, and 6,794 mg kg−1, respectively. High translocation efficiency for both elements is documented by shoot/root concentration ratios greater than one. Biomass decreases were observed for plants treated with higher concentration of Cs or Sr. Cs accumulation affected the pigment concentration and internal structure of the leaf and the spectral characteristics of plants. Within the applied concentration range, Sr accumulation resulted in no significant changes in relative water content (RWC), leaf structural and spectral characteristics of mustard plants. Cs shoot concentration showed significant negative correlation with relative water content (RWC; r = −0.88*) and normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) value (r = −0.68*) of plant shoots. The canopy spectral reflectance and NDVI analysis clearly revealed (p < 0.05) the stress caused by Cs accumulation.

Keywords

Brassica juncea cesium leaf anatomy microscopy phytoextraction spectral reflectance strontium 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Mr. Dharmendra K. Singh, Mr. Cheng Wang, Mr. Shyam S. Balasubramaniam and Mr. Thomas W. Hallmark, for their contribution in data collection and plant culture activities. The authors are thankful to Ms. Yunju Xia, Mr. Dean Patterson, and Dr. Thomas Meaker of DIAL for their help in chemical analysis. This work was supported by funding from US Department of Energy through Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-98FT-40395.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  • Yi Su
    • 2
  • B. B. Maruthi Sridhar
    • 1
    • 2
  • F. X. Han
    • 2
  • S. V. Diehl
    • 1
  • D. L. Monts
    • 2
    • 3
  1. 1.Department of Forest ProductsMississippi State UniversityStarkvilleUSA
  2. 2.Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory (DIAL)Mississippi State UniversityStarkvilleUSA
  3. 3.Department of Physics and AstronomyMississippi State UniversityStarkvilleUSA

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