Journal of Environmental Biology

Possibility for using of two Paulownia lines as a tool for

remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil

Nikolina Tzvetkova¹*, Kamelya Miladinova², Katya Ivanova³, Teodora Georgieva², Marya Geneva⁴ and Yuliana Markovska³

¹University of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry, 10 Kliment Ochridskii str., 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria,

²Biotree, 8 Iliensko shoes str., 1220 Sofia, Bulgaria,

³Faculty of Biology, University of Sofia, 8 Dragan Tsankov Blvd., Sofia 1164, Bulgaria,

⁴Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. Georgi Bonchev str., bl. 21, Sofia 1113, Bulgaria

*Corresponding Authors Email : nikolina_tzvetkova@mail.bg

Publication Data

Paper received:

11 July 2013

Revised received:

16 November 2013

Re-revised received:

18 June 2014

Accepted:

22 September 2014

Abstract

One-year-old two Paulownia lines (P.tomentosa x fortunei ? TF 01 and P. elongata x fortunei ? EF 02) were

grown, as pot experiment, in soil collected from the field of waste depository of Kremikovtzi ferrous metallurgical industry near Sofia. The soil was heavily polluted with Cd. Metals content (Ca, Mg, K, Na, Cd,

Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe) in soil and its distribution in roots, stems and leaves of both lines was studied. The results showed that Ca and K accumulated more in stem, Mg, Na, Fe and Cd in root, while Pb, Cu and Zn in the leaves of both lines. The bioaccumulation factor (BF) and translocation factor (TF) were evaluated in

order to determine the potential of plants in removing metals from contaminated soil. The BF for Fe, Pb, Cu and Zn in TF 01 line exceeded that of EF 02 line - 5.6; 1.03; 1.20; 1.14 times, respectively. TF was higher in TF 01 line for Fe, Pb and Cd (6.0; 1.92 and 1.03, respectively), but not for Cu and Zn. The success of phytoremediation depends on plant growth and restricted distribution of heavy metals in shoots. Our results showed that stem length and total leaf area of Paulownia elongata x fortunei were higher than Paulownia tomentosa x fortunei but BF for Cu and Zn and TF for Pb was less. BF for Cd was 1.7 times higher and TF for Zn was 1.03 times higher in Paulownia elongata x fortune. Selected two lines (P. tomentosa x fortunei ? TF 01 and P. elongata x fortunei ? EF 02) were accumulators of Cu, Zn and Cd. Paulownia tomentosa x fortune accumulated more Pb and Zn in aboveground parts, while Paulownia elongata x fortunei?accumulated Zn only. These lines proved to be a promising species for phytoremediation of heavy metal polluted soils due to high biomass productivity.

 Key words

Phytoextraction, Heavy metals, Paulownia lines, Stem length, Leaf area

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