Wetlands are important sinks for mercury, and its reducing substrate favors the production of gaseous elemental mercury. In order to adapt to the anoxic condition, wetland plants usually have developed aerenchyma to transfer oxygen from the shoots to the roots to supply their roots respiration. In this study, a typical wetland plant, rice, is used to investigate whether its aerenchyma can also be a channel for the transportation of rhizosphere gaseous mercury into the atmosphere. In addition, the underlying mechanisms will be evaluated. In this study, the roots of rice were separated from the shoots by an air-tight chamber. Roots were exposed to saturated mercury vapor in the root chamber, and the gaseous mercury volatilized from the leaf chamber was absorbed by an active carbon absorbent. The results showed that gaseous elemental mercury could be transferred to shoots after absorption by the roots. The mercury in the roots decreased polynomially with root porosity (R=0.8309, P<0.01), while the mercury in the above ground tissues showed a positive correlation with root surface area and root volume (R=0.896, P<0.01; R=0.871, P<0.01). It was also indicated that the mercury absorbed by the roots could be volatilized into the atmosphere through the leaves. The volatilization of the mercury from the leaves increased positively with the leaf area (R=0.897, P<0.01). There was also a significant positive correlation between the mercury volatilization per unit leaf area and transpiration intensity (R=0.73,P<0.01). The results proved that rice can absorb gaseous elemental mercury through its roots and transfer it above ground for emission into the atmosphere through the stomata of the leaves. This provides a scientific basis for further investigations to reveal mercury behavior and its mechanisms in wetland ecosystems.
Keywords: Hg volatilization; aerenchyma; gaseous elemental mercury; leaf-area index; rice.