Effect of phytoremediation on the morpho-anatomical characters of some aquatic macrophytes

Abstract

Abstract. Napaldet JT, Buot Jr. IE, Zafaralla MT, Lit Jr. IL, Sotto RC. 2019. Effect of phytoremediation on the morpho-anatomical characters of some aquatic macrophytes. Biodiversitas 20: 1289-1302. In constructed wetland studies, the effect of pollutants or the phytoremediation set-up on aquatic macrophytes is often not investigated. This literature gap may prove useful in realizing the full phytoremediation potential of aquatic macrophytes. This study was conducted to examine the effect of phytoremediation, the set-up, and the pollutants, on the morpho-anatomical characters of aquatic macrophytes used in the constructed wetlands. This was investigated in Amaranthus spinosus, Eichhornia crassipes, Eleusine indica, and Pennisetum purpureum. Simultaneously, interesting anatomical features in the aquatic macrophytes were discovered. Anomalous secondary growth was discovered in roots and stems of A. spinosus while isobilateral anatomy of the leaf with two layers of vascular bundles and two palisade layers under each epidermis were noted in E. crassipes. The anatomy of P. purpureum was also first reported here. Results showed that the response of the aquatic macrophytes toward phytoremediation treatments was species-specific. E. indica and P. purpureum were the ones significantly affected by the phytoremediation treatment in contrasting ways. E. indica under phytoremediation suffered significantly lower growth rate than those in the uncontaminated site which could be attributed to the inability of its relatively short root system to tap into the water and nutrients. On the other hand, P. purpureum exhibited higher biomass and growth rate under phytoremediation treatment which is primarily due to the water pollutants absorbed as nutrients by the plant. There were no structural differences observed in the anatomy of the aquatic macrophytes between sampling sites except in E. indica. The root’s cortex in samples under phytoremediation has no aerenchyma while this is present in uncontaminated site and Balili River samples. This shows that, indeed, some aquatic macrophytes were significantly affected (p=0.00) by phytoremediation that should be taken in consideration when planning and designing constructed wetlands.

Bioremediation of Mercury- Polluted Water in Free Water Surface-Constructed Wetland System by <i>Euglena</i> sp. and <i>Echinodorus palifolius</i> (Nees & Mart.) J.F. Macbr.

“…The aerenchyma of aquatic plant roots experienced a significant increase in heavy metal stress and metaxylem. This condition is an attempt by plants to accumulate heavy metals, so they do not enter further and become toxic to plants (Batool et al 2014;Napaldet et al 2019;Li et al 2023).…”

Azolla microphylla and Pseudomonas aeruginosa for bioremediation of bioethanol wastewater

“…Organic matter evaporates from the stems and leaves through a direct phytovolatilization mechanism or from the soil through root activity called indirect phytovolatilization mechanism (Limmer and Burken 2016;Ekta and Modi 2018). Phytoremediation agents such as A. microphylla absorb components from the environment which are then processed in the tissue metabolism to remove pollutants (Alkorta et al 2004;Tulod et al 2012;Varghese and Jacob 2016;Napaldet et al 2019). Unisah and Akbari (2020) showed that the use of A. microphylla in tofu wastewater treatment reduced 96% of BOD.…”

“…Phytoremediation agents such as A. microphylla are more tolerant towards pollutants in the environment because they can absorb components from the environment that are metabolized inside the tissues (Alkorta et al 2004;Tulod et al 2012;Varghese and Jacob 2016;Napaldet et al 2019 ). In this case, A. microphylla can accumulate large amounts of contaminants into the biomass (Arora et al 2006).…”

Anatomía ecológica de especies de Bacopa (Gratioleae-Plantaginaceae): macrófitas acuáticas del Macrosistema Iberá

“…El conocimiento de los caracteres morfoanatómicos de las plantas acuáticas puede revelar adaptaciones al ambiente y manifestar cambios ecológicos de los mismos (Sandulescu et al, 2016). A través de dichos estudios se pueden inferir manifestaciones de estrés o contaminación ambiental; y también permiten detectar el potencial fitorremediador de las plantas nativas, lo que podría derivar en resultados más eficientes en la limpieza de los ambientes contaminados (Wood & McAtamney, 1994;Baruah et al, 2014;Guittonny-Philippe et al, 2015;Napaldet et al, 2019;Olaranont et al, 2020). El uso de rasgos morfo-anatómicos vegetativos puede proporcionarnos información cuantitativa para explicar la ecología de las macrófitas (Dalla-Vecchia et al, 2020).…”