Abstract
Excess iron in soils affects many agricultural areas worldwide, causing great losses in cultivated plants particularly in waterlogged environments. Plants, such as the calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica), which grows in such wetlands, have been widely used for the treatment of wastewater. White calla lily plants were grown hydroponically from seeds in a greenhouse in Tunja, Colombia, under either of three different levels of iron (0, 100 or 200 ppm Fe) to evaluate the plant’s tolerance to excess iron. The total dry mass production, water uptake, water use efficiency (WUE), dry matter partitioning and root to shoot ratio were recorded four months after transplanting. The dry mass production per plant decreased as the iron level increased. Although water uptake decreased inversely proportional to the iron level, the WUE was not affected by iron. On the other hand, iron affected dry matter partitioning to the plant organs, accumulating more dry matter in the roots than in the shoot with higher iron levels. Hence, we suggest that the calla plant is moderately tolerant to excess iron and would be appropriate for the phytoremediation of wetlands contaminated with this metal.
Zusammenfassung
Übermäßige Eisengehalte landwirtschaftlich genutzter Böden können weltweit besonders auf kulturstaunassen Böden zu Schäden an den angebauten Kulturen führen. Pflanzen, wie die Lilienart Calla (Zantedeschia aethiopica), die in Feuchtgebieten wächst, kann zur Wasserreinigung genutzt werden. Daher wurden Callasämlinge in Hydrokultur in einem Gewächshausversuch in Tunja, Kolumbien einer von drei Eisenkonzentrationen ausgesetzt (0, 100 oder 200 ppm Fe), um die Eisentoleranz der Pflanze zu untersuchen. Trockenmassebildung und -verteilung sowie Wasseraufnahme, Wasserausnutzungs- (WUE) und Transpirationskoeffizient nach vier Monaten Wachstum dienten als Bewertungsmaßstab. Die Wasseraufnahme stieg und die Trockenmassebildung sank (um 25 % bzw. 51 %) mit zunehmender Eisenkonzentration (von 0 auf 100 bzw. 200 ppm x), ohne den WUE zu verändern, und die Trockensubstanzverteilung änderte sich derart, dass mehr Photoassimilate von den Blättern zu den Wurzeln transportiert wurden. Die Ergebnisse deuten auf eine moderate Eisentoleranz der Callapflanzen und ihre Eignung zur Minderung der Eisenkontamination in Feuchtgebieten.
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Acknowledgements
The team gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Research Directorate (Dirección de Investigaciones – DIN) of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (UPTC) for providing us with the funding and opportunity to conduct this research project. We also gratefully acknowledge matching support from the members of the Research Group in Plant Ecophysiology (Grupo Ecofisiología Vegetal) of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the UPTC.
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Casierra-Posada, F., Blanke, M. & Guerrero-Guío, J. Iron Tolerance in Calla Lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica). Gesunde Pflanzen 66, 63–68 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-014-0316-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-014-0316-y
Keywords
- Abiotic stress
- Bioremediation iron toxicity
- Phytoremediation
- Water relations
- Wetlands
- Heavy metals stress