Shivendra Sahi1, Daniel Starnes2, Pradyut Paul2, Priya Padmanabhan2, Nilesh Sharma2, and Kenneth Sajwan3. (1) Western Kentucky U. Biology Dept., 1906 College Height Blvd # 11080, Bowling Green, KY 42101-1080, United States of America, (2) Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101, (3) Savanah State University, Savanah, GA
Phosphorus (P) is one of the major nutrients essential for both plant and animal life, but it also presents a paradoxical situation when it builds-up in soil causing nutrient pollution. Non-point sources of P pollution are an environmental concern. Long-term anthropogenic activities have caused a sharp increase in P concentration of soil and water. Movement of excess soil P through runoff and leaching results in eutrophication and deterioration of water quality. Therefore, we propose to explore phytoremediation measures for removal of excess P from soil. Fifty-to-eighty percent of total soil P is in form of organic P, out of which Phytate constitutes up to 65%. Organic P needs to be mineralized in order to be bio-available to plants, which is accomplished by phytase/phosphatase enzymes. Phytase is a root acid phosphatase and has a strong specificity for Phytate. In search for a suitable plant system to be used in phosphorus phytoremediation, various species belonging to grass, legume, vegetable and herb crops were tested and screened for their phosphate removal and accumulation potentials. Lolium multiflorum cultivars and Duo festulolium were tested for their phosphate removal capacity in green house conditions. Both grasses accumulated ~1% phosphorus in their shoots from a phosphorus–enriched soil. To further investigate the phosphorus removal efficiency of these grasses, enzyme activities were assayed in the roots. Phosphatase activities in Lolium as well as Duo spp. were enhanced in P-rich conditions. Vegetable crops such as cucumber and yellow squash were also found to be potential P-accumulators with >1% P in their shoots. An elevated level of phosphatase activity was observed in these plants when they were grown in P-enriched soil. This study shows that P phytoremediation can be effective using appropriate crop species.
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