Research Abstract
Remediation ofmetal polluted sites by traditional, physical and chemicalmethods demands large investments of 19
economic and technological resources compared to green remediation.Halophytic plants have been suggested to 20
be more effective in the phytoextraction of metals from the contaminated soils compared to salt-sensitive crop 21
plants. Pot experiment was conducted to study the accumulation of cadmium (Cd) by the A. lentiformis plants 22
when treated with different rates of nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen was applied to the soil at rate of 0, 100, 200, 23
300 and 400 mg kg−1. Increasing the level of nitrogen from 0 to 400 mg N kg−1 increased the dry biomass of 24
roots and shoots of the studied plant by 75 and 27.5%, respectively. The application of N increased the chlorophyll 25
by 100% and leaf area index by 50% and this lead to increase in the photosynthesis and plant growth. The 26
A. lentiformis plants tolerate the high levels of Cd in the soil and plant tissues. Under metal stress conditions, 27
the studied plant contained large amount of organic compounds e.g., oxalic acid, proline and phenols. These or- 28
ganic compounds had negative effect on the plant growth and Cd accumulation in the aboveground parts of the 29
plant.When 400 mg N kg−1 was added, the chlorophyll increased by 100% and the proline, phenols and oxalic 30
acid decreased by 33, 50 and 30%, respectively compared to the control treatment. The fertilization of 31
A. lentiformis plants with the highest rate of nitrogen enabled the plants to remove 7.93% of the total soil Cd dur- 32
ing a period of 105 days. Nitrogenmitigated the effect ofmetal stress and increased the accumulation of Cd in the 33
aboveground parts of A. lentiformis plants. The fertilization of A. lentiformiswith nitrogen could be an effective tool 34
to enhance Cd-phytoextraction from polluted sites.
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