Determination of the heavy metal contents and the benefit/cost analysis of Hypericum salsugineum in the vicinity of Salt Lake

In this study, Hypericum salsugineum, an endemic halophytic plant growing around Salt Lake, was analyzed to determine the heavy metals (chromium, lead, copper, zinc and nickel) on it and on the soil it grew. The phytoremediation potential of H. salsugineum was evaluated. In addition, the benefit cost (B/C) analysis was performed for its potential use in phytoremediation. The plant and soil samples were collected from Eskil and Cihanbeyli between May and September in 2016. A total of 300 soil and plant samples were analysed for heavy metal content. Statistical and standard benefit/cost analyses were performed for assessment. The capacity of accumulating the aforementioned heavy metals was found to be high in H. salsugineum. It was found that Ni and Pb ratio exceeded optimum values in its habitat, and H. salsugineum accumulated available Ni and Pb. When the plant was evaluated in terms of benefit/cost, B/C ratio was greater than 1 during the useful life of the study. This conclusion increases the ecological and economical values of H. Salsugineum, effecting its potential use in phytoremediation

Clustering of halophytes from an inland salt marsh in Turkey according to their ability to accumulate sodium and nitrogenous osmolytes

Fifty-one species belonging to 16 families of halophytes have been collected in salty areas surrounding the Seyfe Lake in Central Anatolia (Turkey). Their plant/sodicity relationships and the involvement of nitrogenous solutes in their osmotic adjustment have been more specifically investigated in order to compare adaptative traits involved in their salt tolerance with those well-known occurring in halophytes from marine salt marshes. The internal molecular ratio between [K+]int and [K+ + Na+]int was found to be low in the shoots of dicots due to important abilities to accumulate Na+. In contrast this ratio was higher in the monocots, this being due to low contents of Na+ not to high ones of K+. This suggests specific traits which allow the dicots to absorb, accumulate and compartmentalize Na+ in order to provide cheap osmotic particles for osmotic adjustment. In terms of putative compatible solutes derived from primary nitrogen metabolism the study has been restricted to free proline and glycine betaine. It reveals that the 51 species investigated could be discriminated according to their capacity to accumulate, under natural saline conditions, either proline or glycine betaine or both of these compounds. It was also shown that species that behaved as glycine betaine accumulators behaved as poor proline accumulators and vice versa. This might suggest that in a number of species exhibiting attributes for glycine betaine production the level of free proline could be under the negative control of that of glycine betaine. A number of other nitrogenous osmolytes, such as Δ1-acetylornithine, β-alanine betaine and choline-O-sulfate were also found in certain species. Plantago maritima previously found to accumulate sorbitol in response to saline conditions was shown here to coaccumulate proline and glycine betaine in addition to sorbitol which was also found to be abundant. Phenetic analysis of the set of data obtained allow to discriminate two main clusters of halophytic species refering mainly to the traits associated with proline and (or) glycine betaine accumulation. As expected, the majority of the Chenopodiaceae, exhibited a distinct behavior within cluster II, based on their dual ability to store Na+ and glycine betaine. Some species of this family did not conform with this model. Thus, it becomes clear that salt tolerance in halophytic plants which might partly result from the cooperativity of a number of well-conserved mechanisms could also result from specific processes that could be modulated by the saline environmen

comparative study with commercial rootstocks to determine the tolerance to heavy metal (Pb) in the drought and salt stress tolerant eggplant breeding lines

Negative effects of heavy metals on plants are peroxidation of lipids in cell membranes, production of free oxygen radicals, disorders in photosynthesis, damages in DNAs and as a result death of the cell. Plant development, productivity and quality of the fruits are decreased in the plants that are exposed to Pb stress which is one of the most toxic heavy metals. Usage of rootstocks which is mainly used against biotic stress conditions also seems to be defined as a solution to abiotic stress conditions such as heavy metal stresses. In eggplant production, wild species and hybrids are used as rootstocks against soil based pathogens and nematode. Reactions of improvement lines derived from local gene resources for rootstock improvement to heavy metal stress which is one of the abiotic stresses were determined. While determining the resistance against Pb stress, commercially used eggplant rootstocks are compared. In this study 4 eggplant cultivars (S. melongena: Burdur Bucak, Mardin Kızıltepe, Artvin Hopa and Kemer) whose resistance potential against salt and drought stresses had been previously revealed and 6 rootstocks of wild eggplant species or hybrids (AGR-703, Doyran, Hawk, Hikyaku, Köksal-F1 and Vista-306) were tested against Pb stress. Eggplant seedlings were applied to 0, 150 and 300 ppm Pb solutions (Pb(NO3)2) during 4-5 true leaf stage. 20 days after the stress application wet and dry weight of green parts and roots, height of the body part and leaf areas were measured. Pb tolerance of Köksal F1 and AGR703 rootstocks were higher than other commercial rootstocks. Mardin Kızıltepe and Burdur Merkez genotypes which have high tolerances against abiotic stress gave lower values with respect to Artvin Hopa and Kemer which are sensitive genotypes and many other rootstocks while comparing the reduction ratios of stress signs such as shoot fresh weight and shoot length according to control under Pb stress