Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.): A Green Technology for Clean Environment

Cadmium accumulation and its effects on physiological characteristics of Arundo donax L. in a simulated wetland

“…The present study showed that there were no differences in Pn, Tr (except that at 0.01 mg L -1 ), Gs (except that at 0.01 mg L -1 ), and Ci (except that at 0.05 mg L -1 ), indicating that the photosynthetic system was not harmed and showed a strong tolerance of this plant to the increased heavy metal concentrations in the soil-water medium. The results agreed with previous studies, in which Pn, Gs, Tr, Ci and stomatal limitation (Ls) of A. donax were unaffected by irrigation with trace metal aqueous solution containing high concentrations of Cd (Prasad, 1995;Papazoglou et al, 2005;Alshaal et al, 2015). This finding probably contributed to the fact that A. donax possesses a very effective antioxidant system, which protects chloroplast and stomatal functioning (Alshaal et al, 2015).…”

“…The results agreed with previous studies, in which Pn, Gs, Tr, Ci and stomatal limitation (Ls) of A. donax were unaffected by irrigation with trace metal aqueous solution containing high concentrations of Cd (Prasad, 1995;Papazoglou et al, 2005;Alshaal et al, 2015). This finding probably contributed to the fact that A. donax possesses a very effective antioxidant system, which protects chloroplast and stomatal functioning (Alshaal et al, 2015).…”

“…In general, excess Cd accumulation in plants can profoundly interfere with a series of physiological processes such as uptake, transport, and assimilation of mineral nutrients and photosynthesis, and thereby lead to nutrient deficiency, disruption of ATPase activity, decrease of photosynthesis, inhibition of various enzyme activities, induction of oxidative stress and reduce genotoxicity (Metwally et al, 2005;Imran et al, 2008;Johna et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2012;Alshaal et al, 2015;Çikili et al, 2016;Moussa et al, 2016;Shahid et al, 2017;He et al, 2017). These studies also suggested that the accumulation of and tolerance to Cd in plants varied greatly among plant species (Çikili et al, 2016), cultivars (Chen et al, 2012) and genotypes (Imran et al, 2008).…”

“…Furthermore, A. donax has gained a broad reputation as a good candidate for use in energy production, the paper industry, biofuels and the development of building materials (Nassi et al, 2010;Elhawat et al, 2014). As a C3-grass, A. donax shows high photosynthetic rates and unsaturated photosynthetic potential compared to C4 plants (Alshaal et al, 2015). Previous studies have shown that, under high levels of cadmium, arsenic, plumbum, chromium and nickel stress, A. donax can growth and remain healthy, with its photosynthetic system unharmed (Alshaal et al, 2015).…”

“…As a C3-grass, A. donax shows high photosynthetic rates and unsaturated photosynthetic potential compared to C4 plants (Alshaal et al, 2015). Previous studies have shown that, under high levels of cadmium, arsenic, plumbum, chromium and nickel stress, A. donax can growth and remain healthy, with its photosynthetic system unharmed (Alshaal et al, 2015). This ability is based on its high antioxidant capacity, which allows its antioxidative enzymes to catalyse the dismutation of highly reactive O2into non-toxic forms, such as O2 and H2O (Miao et al, 2012).…”