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Arsenic accumulation and speciation in the submerged macrophyte Ceratophyllum demersum L.

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Abstract

Introduction

Ceratophyllum demersum L. is a widespread submerged macrophyte in aquatic environments.

Methods

Simulation experiments were conducted in the laboratory to investigate arsenic (As) accumulation, speciation, and efflux of C. demersum exposed to arsenate and arsenite solutions.

Results

Plant shoots showed a significant accumulation of As with a maximum of 862 and 963 μg As g−1 dry weight after 4 days of exposure to 10 μM arsenate and arsenite, respectively. Regardless of whether arsenate or arsenite was supplied to the plants, arsenite was the predominant species in plant shoots. Furthermore, a dramatically higher influx rate of arsenate compared with arsenite was observed in C. demersum exposed to As solutions without the addition of phosphate (P). Arsenate uptake was considerably inhibited by P in this study, suggesting that arsenate is taken up by C. demersum via the phosphate transporters. However, arsenite uptake was unaffected by P and markedly reduced in the presence of glycerol and antimonite (Sb), indicating arsenite shares the aquaporin transport pathway. In addition, C. demersum rapidly reduces arsenate to arsenite in the shoot of the plant and extrudes most of them (>60 %) to the external solutions. The efflux of arsenite was much higher than that of arsenate; the former is supposed to be both active and passive processes, and the latter through passive leakage.

Conclusion

C. demersum is a strong As accumulator and an interesting model plant to study As uptake and metabolism due to the lack of a root-to-shoot translocation barrier.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Prof. Yong-Guan Zhu (Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for his technical support. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Funds of China (grant no. 20777059) and the Key Program of Science and Technology, Fujian Province (grant no. 2010Y0055).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China

    Peiying Xue, Changzhou Yan & Zhuanxi Luo

  2. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Guoxin Sun

Authors
  1. Peiying Xue
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  2. Changzhou Yan
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  3. Guoxin Sun
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  4. Zhuanxi Luo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Changzhou Yan.

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Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

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Xue, P., Yan, C., Sun, G. et al. Arsenic accumulation and speciation in the submerged macrophyte Ceratophyllum demersum L.. Environ Sci Pollut Res 19, 3969–3976 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-0856-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-0856-6

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