DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/jss2002.05.043 --- The role of chelator, fertilizer, and enriched rhizobacteria in facilitating Cd, Cr, and Ni accumulation by Helianthus annuus was studied. It was found that by adding a synthetic chelator, EDTA, the shoot concentrations of Cd and Ni were significantly increased from 34.2 mg kg–1 and 14.5 mg kg–1 to 115 mg kg–1 and 117 mg kg–1, respectively. However, the total biomass of plants was drastically decreased by 50 to 60%. Compared with this treatment, inoculating enriched rhizobacteria to plants grown under similar conditions maintained the surged shoot concentrations of Cd and Ni while increasing the plants biomass by more than 1.6-fold. It was also found that introducing a commercial fertilizer, Hydro-Gro, to plants significantly increased the Ni accumulation by 3-fold and the plant biomass by 1.43-fold. These results suggest that combing fertilizers, chelators and/or rhizobacteria might provide a more effective approach for enhancing phytoremediation. |
