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Experimental study of remediation of wastewater with low concentrations of uranium using Syngonium podophyllum-endophyte symbiotic systems

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Abstract

Treatment of uranium-containing wastewater using a plant–microbe symbiotic system appears promising. To find a viable method for wastewater treatment containing low concentrations of uranium (5 mg/L or lower), a Syngonium(S) podophyllum-endophyte symbiotic system was designed and hydroponic remediation experiments were conducted. After 25 days of treatment, the uranium concentrations of the wastewater samples with uranium concentrations between 0.5 and 2.0 mg/L were lowered to below 0.05 mg/L. Analysis of the concentration data and transfer factors (TF) of uranium in plant roots, stems and leaves showed that S. podophyllum concentrated uranium mainly through its roots. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed that the roots of S. podophyllum colonized by Bacteria XNN8 (separated from Typha orientalis, beef extract peptone medium, bacteria numbered eight) produced more sugars and –OH than that by the uncolonized S. podophyllum, hence promoting the binding effect of –OH on uranium in plants. Colonization by actinomycetes XNG3 (separated from Typha orientalis, modified Gao’s No. 1 medium, actinomycetes numbered three) might either increase the content of C = O, COO–, C–O and C–N in the roots of S. podophyllum or strengthen the binding effect of these functional groups with uranium.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2018JJ2330) and Scientific Research Project of Hunan Provincial Department of Education (Grant No. 16B223).

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Author notes

  1. T. H. Zhou and L. He contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Discipline Laboratory for National Defense for Biotechnology in Uranium Mining and Hydrometallurgy, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, 421001, People’s Republic of China

    T. H. Zhou, L. He, Q. W. Deng, D. X. Ding, Y. D. Wang & Y. X. Chen

  2. Hengyang Key Laboratory of Soil Pollution Control and Remediation, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, 421001, People’s Republic of China

    T. H. Zhou, L. He, Q. W. Deng & Y. X. Chen

  3. School of Resources, Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, 421001, People’s Republic of China

    T. H. Zhou, L. He, Q. W. Deng, D. X. Ding, Y. D. Wang & Y. X. Chen

  4. China Bluestar Chonfar Engineering and Technology Co., Ltd., Changsha, Hunan, 410007, People’s Republic of China

    L. He

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  1. T. H. Zhou
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Correspondence to Q. W. Deng.

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Zhou, T.H., He, L., Deng, Q.W. et al. Experimental study of remediation of wastewater with low concentrations of uranium using Syngonium podophyllum-endophyte symbiotic systems. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 20, 1769–1778 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04069-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04069-z

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