Phytoremediation is considered as a promising soil remediation technique. In the present study, the growth responses, cadmium (Cd) accumulation and uptake capability of six popular compositae species, namely, Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz., Tagetes erecta L., Tagetes patula L., Zinnia elegans Jacq., Centaurea cyanus L. and Gerbera jamesonii Bolus under Cd stress were investigated. Among the six compositae species, the growth of T. erecta L. and T. patula L. improved under 10 mg kg-1 Cd exposure in term of the total biomass and height increased along with the increased Cd concentration in soil, and the growth of the two plants had no significant differences at the high Cd concentration (100 mg kg-1), which indicated that they have good tolerance to Cd toxicity. At the same time, the two plants have higher biomass than four other plants. Furthermore, they can accumulate Cd above 100 μg g-1 dry tissue, which is the threshold value of a Cd-hyperaccumulator, and have higher Cd uptake ability, translocation factor (TF) and bioconcentration factor (BCF) values. According to these traits, it was shown that T. erecta L. and T. patula L. had strong tolerance and accumulation capability to Cd, therefore they can become potential hyperaccumulators in phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soils.
Keywords: Accumulation; compositae species; growth; heavy metal; phytoremediation.