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Cadmium phytoremediation potential of turnip compared with three common high Cd-accumulating plants

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Abstract

Phytoextraction is a phytoremediation technique used for remediating polluted soils and it greatly relies on the plants’ capacities to accumulate contaminants. Turnip is a high cadmium (Cd)-accumulating plant. We compared the Cd tolerance, growth, and Cd accumulation characteristics of two turnip landraces with three additional commonly known high Cd-accumulating species to systematically estimate its Cd phytoremediation potential. Results showed that the turnips could tolerate relatively lower Cd concentrations than other plants. Growth characteristics analyses indicated that the turnips initially grew rapidly and then gradually slowed down, and their photosynthetic parameters indicated that biomass accumulation was easily affected by light. However, the Cd uptake and translocation capacities of the two turnip landraces were higher than those of Phytolacca americana Linn. and Bidens pilosa Linn. but close to that of Brassica napus Linn.. Ultimately, large amounts of Cd accumulated in turnips during early growth and slightly increased as the fleshy roots increased in size. Based on these findings, the present turnip landraces have potential for soil remediation, but additional research is needed before these landraces can be practically used. Moreover, turnips are good candidates for studying the molecular mechanism of high Cd accumulation in plants.

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Abbreviations

AG:

Aboveground

AQE:

Apparent quantum efficiency

DW:

Dry weight

EC:

Enrichment coefficient

LCP:

Light compensation point

LSP:

Light saturation point

P max :

Maximum net photosynthetic rate

R d. :

Dark respiration rate

RTI:

Root tolerance index

SSI:

Seedling survival index

TF:

Translocation factor

TT:

Tolerance threshold

UG:

Underground

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (31590823, 41271058). We thank Dr. Wei Zhang for his help in the calculation of photosynthetic parameters.

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Author notes

  1. Xiong Li and Xiaoming Zhang contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China

    Xiong Li, Xiaoming Zhang, Boqun Li, Hang Sun & Yongping Yang

  2. Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China

    Xiong Li, Xiaoming Zhang, Boqun Li & Yongping Yang

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiaoming Zhang

  4. College of Plant Protection, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China

    Yuansheng Wu

Authors
  1. Xiong Li
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  2. Xiaoming Zhang
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  3. Boqun Li
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  4. Yuansheng Wu
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  5. Hang Sun
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Contributions

Y.P. Yang and X. Li conceived and designed the experiments. B.Q. Li collected the seeds. X. Li, X.M. Zhang, B.Q. Li, and Y.S. Wu performed the experiments. X. Li analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. Y.P. Yang and H. Sun revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yongping Yang.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

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Li, X., Zhang, X., Li, B. et al. Cadmium phytoremediation potential of turnip compared with three common high Cd-accumulating plants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 21660–21670 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9781-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9781-z

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