Tolerance of Populus euramericana 561/41 to different concentrations of lead

Abstract

In this study, phytoremediation potential of Populus euramericana clone 561/41 to Pb-contaminated soils (0, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 mg Pbkg-1 soil) was investigated in greenhouse condition in a completely randomized design. The results showed that the survival was decreased about 19.9%, 35.8%, 55.6% and 60.3% in the soil polluted with 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 mg Pbkg-1, respectively. However, increasing Pb did not lead to any notable changes in the length of root and stem. In addition, leaf area and biomass of root, stem, leaf and total (till 500 mg Pbkg-1 soil) did not decrease as well. The Pb concentration, content of plant organs, the greatest, and the lowest values allocated to root and leaf increased along with increasing Pb concentration of soil. The greatest values of translocation factor and tolerance indices of root, shoot and total plant were observed in 500 mg Pb kg-1. The results generally demonstrated the good tolerance of the seedlings of P. euramericana clone 561/41 to Pb heavy metal in 500 mg kg-1 concentration. At higher concentrations of Pb, the results presented an acceptable tolerance, though the tolerance index of seedlings was reduced. Due to significant accumulation of Pb in the root (phytostabilization), this clone can therefore be introduced as an appropriate clone for phytoremediation of Pb-contaminated soils.

Keywords

• Contaminated soil
• Lead
• Phytoremediation
• translocation factor
• Tolerance index