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Cosmos sulphureus Cav. is more tolerant to lead than copper and chromium in hydroponics system

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Abstract

Heavy metals are environmental contaminants that have gained much attention globally. Plant growth and development are greatly affected by toxic heavy metals like lead, copper, and chromium. Cosmos sulphureus Cav. an ornamental plant was grown in hydroponics system against these metals. Plants were exposed to 2, 4, and 8 mg L−1 lead; 5, 10, and 15 mg L−1 copper, and 2.5, 5, and 10 mg L−1 chromium for 3 weeks using control as reference. Lead stress slightly affected the growth of C. sulphureus, however, had extreme signs of phytotoxicity due to copper and chromium. At 8 mg L−1 lead, reductions by 21, 25, 45, and 38% in fresh and dry weight, shoot, and root length were observed, respectively, as compared to control while reductions due to copper/chromium (15/10 mg L−1 in hydroponics) were 79/77, 90/73, 56/60, and 87/90%, respectively. Lead accumulated mostly in roots of C. sulphureus and was observed to be 1000 mg kg−1 at 8 mg L−1. While copper and chromium were also accumulated mainly in roots and were 3 mg kg−1 and 900 mg kg−1, respectively, at 10 mg L−1 in external solution. C. sulphureus without lead-induced phytotoxic effects as well as higher accumulation in roots, strongly advocates this plant as a potential candidate of lead-hyperaccumulator; however, further investigations at the physiological and molecular level are needed to explore the mechanisms for lead homeostasis in roots.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been funded by Scientific Research Deanship at University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia through project number RG-20082.

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Author notes

  1. Naveed Aftab, Kanza Saleem contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    N. Aftab, K. Saleem, A. H. A. Khan, S. Yousaf, M. I. Zafar & M. Iqbal

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Hail, Saudi Arabia

    T. A. Butt & C. R. Mirza

  3. Department of Biotechnology, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, 22060, Pakistan

    J. Hussain

  4. Department of Computer Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    G. Farooq

  5. Department of Bio Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad Campus, Islamabad, 45550, Pakistan

    A. Tahir & I. Nawaz

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  1. N. Aftab
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Correspondence to M. Iqbal.

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Editorial responsibility: Senthil Kumar Ponnusamy.

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Aftab, N., Saleem, K., Khan, A.H.A. et al. Cosmos sulphureus Cav. is more tolerant to lead than copper and chromium in hydroponics system. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 18, 2325–2334 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-02981-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-02981-w

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