Effect of biochar on the uptake, translocation and phytotoxicity of chromium in a soil-barley pot system

Liqian Dai; Youyuan Chen; Lecheng Liu; Ping Sun; Jiaxin Liu; Baoying Wang; Shiying Yang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153905

Effect of biochar on the uptake, translocation and phytotoxicity of chromium in a soil-barley pot system

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jun 20:826:153905. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153905. Epub 2022 Feb 19.

Authors

Liqian Dai¹, Youyuan Chen², Lecheng Liu³, Ping Sun¹, Jiaxin Liu¹, Baoying Wang¹, Shiying Yang⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education of China, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China. Electronic address: youyuan@ouc.edu.cn.
³ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education of China, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
⁴ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education of China, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China. Electronic address: ysy@ouc.edu.cn.

PMID: 35189220
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153905

Abstract

Remediation of Cr-contaminated soils with biochar is an effective method, but its effect on plant detoxification has not been clarified, and the translocation pathways of different chemical forms of Cr in the soil-plant system have not been quantitatively evaluated. This study investigated the effects of magnetically modified Enteromorpha prolifera biochar (FBC) on Cr uptake, translocation and phytotoxicity in the soil and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). When the FBC dosage increased to 30 g·kg^-1, the content of bioavailable Cr in the soil decreased by 56.82%. Additionally, the contents of Cr in H. vulgare decreased by 53.22%, and growth recovered to the normal level. Partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) was applied to establish two influence paths to explain how FBC impacted the whole system of soil and plants upon Cr exposure. The phytotoxic effect path of Cr suggested that FBC decreased the contents of Cr in soil and H. vulgare and then recovered growth by alleviating oxidative stress (β = -0.45) and promoting chlorophyll synthesis (β = 0.53) in shoots. The translocation and conversion path of Cr further indicated that Cr in the shoots was converted into low-migration forms and mainly trapped in cell walls and vacuoles rather than in organelles, consequently decreasing the phytotoxicity of Cr (β = -0.73). These two soil-plant paths offer new insights into the application of biochar and plants in Cr-contaminated soils.

Keywords: Biochar; Chemical form; Chromium; Multivariate analysis; Subcellular distribution.

MeSH terms

Charcoal / chemistry
Chromium / analysis
Hordeum* / metabolism
Plants / metabolism
Soil / chemistry
Soil Pollutants* / analysis

Substances

Soil
Soil Pollutants
biochar
Chromium
Charcoal