Germination and Early Seedling Growth of High Andean Native Plants under Heavy Metal Stress

The development of large-scale mining activity along the Central Andes of Argentina (CAA) has generated significant amounts of waste materials containing heavy metals. Phytoremediation is a promising eco-friendly, low-cost, and effective technology for the removal of heavy metals. The present study...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diversity (Basel) 2023-06, Vol.15 (7), p.824
Main Authors: Parera, Victoria, Parera, Carlos Alberto, Feresin, Gabriela Egly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adesmia pinifolia
Adesmia subterránea
Bioremediation
Cadmium
Dominant species
Drinking water
Environmental aspects
Fabaceae
Flowers & plants
Germination
Growth
heavy metal tolerance
Heavy metals
Indigenous plants
Indigenous species
Low concentrations
Mercury
Mercury (metal)
Mineral industry
Mining
Mining industry
Native plants
Native species
Physiological aspects
Phytoremediation
Plant species
Seedlings
Seeds
Soil contamination
Soil pollution
Stress (Physiology)
Technology application
Toxicity
Waste materials
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Summary:The development of large-scale mining activity along the Central Andes of Argentina (CAA) has generated significant amounts of waste materials containing heavy metals. Phytoremediation is a promising eco-friendly, low-cost, and effective technology for the removal of heavy metals. The present study aimed to identify two native dominant species from the CCA, Adesmia subterranea and A. pinifolia, as metal-tolerant plant species for the first time, by evaluating the germination and early seedling growth at different concentrations (ppm) of Cd (3, 4.5 and 6), Ni (150, 225 and 300), As (20, 30 and 40), and Hg (0.8, 1.2 and 1.6) Early seedling growth was found to be more sensitive to heavy metals than germination. Ni and As exhibited the greatest inhibitory effect on both species’ germination percentages. In contrast, with Cd and Hg, no inhibitory effect was recorded. Root length, metal tolerance index, and fresh and dry weight were stimulated with Hg. However, the phytotoxic effect was greater as the concentration of Ni, As, and Cd increased. As an overall conclusion, the order of toxicity for these species can be classified as Ni > As > Cd > Hg. Therefore, Adesmia species could be considered as candidates for phytoremediation of soils contaminated with Hg and low concentrations of Cd.
ISSN:1424-2818
1424-2818
DOI:10.3390/d15070824