title: Nutrients can enhance phytoremediation of copper-polluted soil by Indian mustard.
abstract: An orthogonally designed experiment was conducted to study the single and combined effects of N, P and K on phytoremediation of Cu-polluted soil by Indian mustard. Addition of fertilizer N and P significantly increased Indian mustard shoot yield. Two high treatments combined with N resulted in the highest yields, followed by low-P combined with N. In contrast, high P with no N gave no yield increase and K had no effect on yield of Indian mustard. Nitrogen and P increased the amount of chlorophyll in the leaves, indicating that the yield increases were due to enhanced photosynthesis. Nitrogen application had no effect on plant Cu concentrations but addition of P slightly decreased plant Cu concentrations, likely a dilution effect resulting from the increase in yield. Among the treatments, N and P applied at 100 and 200 mg kg(-1) respectively with no K application resulted in the highest Cu uptake. Thus, a combination of low N and high P produced a yield increase in Indian mustard that was more than adequate to compensate for a slight decrease in Cu concentration, resulting in the highest Cu removal from the contaminated soil.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China. lhwu@ns.issas.ac.cn
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Christie
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001937:Brassica / Q000254:growth & development*; D003300:Copper / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005308:Fertilizers; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000494:pharmacology; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000494:pharmacology; D011188:Potassium / Q000494:pharmacology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D010758:Phosphorus; D003300:Copper; D009584:Nitrogen; D011188:Potassium