Biology
Dose Response Assessment of Cu and Zn Metal Toxicity in Metal Accumulating North American Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Clones
Document Type
Poster Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Start Date
13-4-2018 2:30 PM
End Date
13-4-2018 4:00 PM
Sponsor
Matthew Collier (Wittenberg University)
Description
North American dandelions (Taraxacum officinale; Asteraceae) are known metal accumulators, making them a good candidate species to assess metal toxicity in dose response studies. In this study, we determined the concentrations of Cu and Zn that metal accumulating dandelion clones could tolerate across a range of metal exposures. Four distinct dandelion clones (previously identified by DNA fingerprinting) sampled from urban polluted sites were grown using noncirculatory hydroponics in nutrient media supplemented with six different copper (nutrient solution + 30, 60, 120, 240, 480, and 960 mg kg-1 Cu) and Zinc (nutrient solution + 65, 130, 260, 520, 780, and 1560 mg kg-1 Zn) treatments (N = 16 for each metal treatment) for approximately four weeks. Analysis by flame atomic absorption spectrometry revealed a positive linear dose response to both Cu and Zinc exposure in dandelion root and leaf tissues. Sequestered Cu ranged between 17.1 - 370.9 mg kg-1 in roots and 9.6 - 124.7 mg kg-1 in leaves, while sequestered Zn ranged between 39.3 – 468.4 mg kg-1 in roots and 21.9 – 208.7 mg kg-1 in leaves. Root and leaf tissues also showed morphological evidence of metal toxicity (e.g., necrosis and/or chlorosis) at higher metal treatments. These results suggest that metal tolerant dandelions can be used to phytoremediate a wide range of copper and zinc contaminated soils, and can be used as a model organism for studying metal toxicity in plants.
Dose Response Assessment of Cu and Zn Metal Toxicity in Metal Accumulating North American Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Clones
Indianapolis, IN
North American dandelions (Taraxacum officinale; Asteraceae) are known metal accumulators, making them a good candidate species to assess metal toxicity in dose response studies. In this study, we determined the concentrations of Cu and Zn that metal accumulating dandelion clones could tolerate across a range of metal exposures. Four distinct dandelion clones (previously identified by DNA fingerprinting) sampled from urban polluted sites were grown using noncirculatory hydroponics in nutrient media supplemented with six different copper (nutrient solution + 30, 60, 120, 240, 480, and 960 mg kg-1 Cu) and Zinc (nutrient solution + 65, 130, 260, 520, 780, and 1560 mg kg-1 Zn) treatments (N = 16 for each metal treatment) for approximately four weeks. Analysis by flame atomic absorption spectrometry revealed a positive linear dose response to both Cu and Zinc exposure in dandelion root and leaf tissues. Sequestered Cu ranged between 17.1 - 370.9 mg kg-1 in roots and 9.6 - 124.7 mg kg-1 in leaves, while sequestered Zn ranged between 39.3 – 468.4 mg kg-1 in roots and 21.9 – 208.7 mg kg-1 in leaves. Root and leaf tissues also showed morphological evidence of metal toxicity (e.g., necrosis and/or chlorosis) at higher metal treatments. These results suggest that metal tolerant dandelions can be used to phytoremediate a wide range of copper and zinc contaminated soils, and can be used as a model organism for studying metal toxicity in plants.