Abstract
Winged bean is a tropical legume that has been reported to enhance polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) biodegradation in soil. However, there is insufficient information about the susceptibility of winged bean to PAH toxicity in long term study. In this study, winged bean was planted in soil contaminated with either fluorene (124.5 mg/kg) or pyrene (98.4 mg/kg) for 90 days. Plant growth parameters and PAH disappearances from soil were measured every 30 days. Neither fluorene nor pyrene led to decreased shoot and root length of winged bean and all the winged bean plants flowered on day 90. However, the chlorophyll b content in the leaves decreased since day 60 and further decreased significantly by day 90 when winged bean was grown in the presence of fluorene or pyrene. The presence of fluorene and pyrene led to reduced root nodule formation at 30 and 60 days. Despite the reduced chlorophyll b content and decreased number of root nodules, winged bean could enhance pyrene removal significantly on day 30 compared to unplanted soil. Subsequently, pyrene degradation in the unplanted soil caught up and there was no statistically significant difference between the two treatments at 60 or 90 days. Negligible amounts of PAHs were accumulated in the shoot and root tissues of winged bean. These results showed that winged bean can speed up the removal of high MW PAHs from contaminated soil and we conclude that this plant is suitable for PAH phytoremediation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adam G, Duncan H (2003) The effect of diesel fuel on common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) plants. Environ Geochem Health 25:123–130
Chouychai W, Paemsom T, Pobsuwan C, Somtrakoon K, Lee H (2016) Effect of indole-3-acetic acid-producing bacteria on phytoremediation of soil contaminated with phenanthrene and anthracene by mungbean. EnvironmentAsia 9:128–133
Fan S, Li P, Gong Z, Ren W, He N (2008) Promotion of pyrene degradation in rhizosphere of alfalfa (Mediacago sativa L.). Chemosphere 71:1593–1598
Flocco CG, Lobalbo A, Carranza MP, Bassi M, Giulietti AM, MacCormack WP (2002) Some physiological, microbial, and toxicological aspects of the removal of phenanthrene by hydroponic cultures of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Int J Phytoremed 4:169–186
Freidman BL, Gras SL, Snape I, Stevens GW, Mumford KA (2016) The performance of ammonium exchanged zeolite for the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons migrating in soil water. J Hazard Mater 313:272–282
Gao Y, Zhu L (2004) Plant uptake, accumulation and translocation of phenanthrene and pyrene in soils. Chemosphere 55:1169–1178
Graham PH, Vance CP (2000) Nitrogen fixation in perspective: an overview of research and extension needs. Field Crop Res 65:93–106
Hall J, Soole K, Bentham R (2011) Hydrocarbon phytoremediation in the family Fabacea—a review. Int J Phytoremed 13:317–332
Huang X, El-Alawi Y, Penrose DM, Glick BR, Greenberg BR (2004) Responses of three grass species to creosote during phytoremediation. Environ Pollut 130:453–463
Kummerová M, Krulová J, Zezulka Š, Tříska J (2006) Evaluation of fluoranthene phytotoxicity in pea plants by Hill reaction and chlorophyll fluorescence. Chemosphere 65:489–496
Pan S, Wei S, Yuan X, Cao S (2008) The removal and remediation of phenanthrene and pyrene in soil by mixed cropping of alfalfa and rape. Agric Sci China 7:1355–1364
Reilley KA, Banks MK, Schwab AP (1996) Organic chemicals in the environment: dissipation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the rhizosphere. J Environ Qual 25:212–219
Riskuwa-Shehu ML, Ijah UJJ, Manga SB, Bilbis LS (2017) Evaluation of the use of legumes for biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil. Int J Environ Sci Technol 14:2205–2214
Salehi-Lisar SY, Deljoo S (2015) The physiological effect of fluorene on Triticum aestivum, Medicago sativa, and Helianthus annus. Cogent Food Agric 1:1020189. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2015.1020189
Somtrakoon K, Chouychai W, Lee H (2014) Comparing anthracene and fluorene degradation in anthracene and fluorene-contaminated soil by single and mixed plant cultivation. Int J Phytoremed 16(4):415–428
Somtrakoon K, Chouychai W, Lee H (2015) Removal of anthracene and fluoranthene by waxy corn, long bean and okra in lead-contaminated soil. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 95:407–413
Vázquez-Luna D (2015) Biological indices of toxicity in tropical legumes grown in oil-contaminated soil. Ecol Indic 53:43–48
Wang J, Cao X, Liao J, Huang Y, Tang X (2015) Carcinogenic potential of PAHs in oil-contaminated soils from the main oil fields across China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:10902–10909
Xu SY, Chen YX, Wu WX, Wang KX, Lin Q, Liang XQ (2006) Enhanced dissipation of phenanthrene and pyrene in spiked soils by combined plants cultivation. Sci Total Environ 363:206–215
Yang Y, Zhang X, Korenaga T (2002) Distribution of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the soil of Tokushima, Japan. Water Air Soil Pollut 138:51–60
Acknowledgements
We thank Nakhonsawan Rajabhat University for infrastructure and equipment support for this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chouychai, W., Swangying, T., Somtrakoon, K. et al. Growth and Phytoremediation Efficiency of Winged Bean in Fluorene- and Pyrene-Contaminated Soil. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 101, 631–636 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-018-2479-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-018-2479-1