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Root porosity, radial oxygen loss and iron plaque on roots of wetland plants in relation to zinc tolerance and accumulation

Plant and Soil volume 374, pages 815–828 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Background and aims

Wetland plants have been widely used in constructed wetlands for the clean-up of metal-contaminated waters. This study investigated the relationship between rate of radial oxygen loss (ROL), root porosity, Zn uptake and tolerance, Fe plaque formation in wetland plants.

Methods

A hydroponic experiment and a pot trial with Zn-contaminated soil were conducted to apply different Zn level treatments to various emergent wetland plants.

Results

Significant differences were found between plants in their root porosities, rates of ROL, Zn uptake and Zn tolerance indices in the hydroponic experiment, and concentrations of Fe and Mn on roots and in the rhizosphere in the pot trial. There were significant positive correlations between root porosities, ROL rates, Zn tolerance, Zn, Fe and Mn concentrations on roots and in the rhizosphere. Wetland plants with higher root porosities and ROL tended to have more Fe plaque, higher Zn concentrations on roots and in their rhizospheres, and were more tolerant of Zn toxicity.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that ROL and root porosity play very important roles in Fe plaque formation, Zn uptake and tolerance, and are useful criteria for selecting wetland plants for the phytoremediation of Zn-contaminated waters and soils/sediments.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank Mr. HY Huang (SYSU) and Ms HY Dong (SYSU) for their technical help and Prof AJM Baker (University of Melbourne, Australia) for assisting with the review of this paper. This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30570345, 30770417, 41201312), Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (06202438) and State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Bio-control and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, University Town, Panyu, Guangzhou, 510006, People’s Republic of China

    Junxing Yang & Zhihong Ye

  2. Center for Environmental Remediation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Junxing Yang

  3. Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Nora Fung-Yee Tam

  4. State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Nora Fung-Yee Tam

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  1. Junxing Yang
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  2. Nora Fung-Yee Tam
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  3. Zhihong Ye
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Correspondence to Zhihong Ye.

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Responsible Editor: Hans Lambers.

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Yang, J., Tam, N.FY. & Ye, Z. Root porosity, radial oxygen loss and iron plaque on roots of wetland plants in relation to zinc tolerance and accumulation. Plant Soil 374, 815–828 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1922-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1922-7

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