Phytoremediation of Cu-contaminated Soil and Water by Commelina communis

In the present study, we investigated the tolerance of Commelina communis to growth in Cu-contaminated soil and water We examined the germination rate, root and shoot growth of seedlings, fresh biomass in soil and water, and ability to eliminate Cu. We found that C. communis eliminated 41% of Cu in soil containing 50 mg Cu/kg and removed over 50% of Cu from water containing 100 mg Cu/L Cu. In addition, the plants could accumulate 90 mg Cu/g when grown in soil containing 50 mg Cu/kg and 140 mg Cu/g when grown in soil containing 100 mg Cu/kg thus higher levels of Cu removal were observed in soils containing higher Cu concentrations. In water, the maximal accumulation rate was 4.9 mg Cu/g root and 1.2 mg Cu/g shoot in water containing 20 mg Cu/L, and 7 days after exposure, Cu absorption saturated. Further, the growth rate of C. communis was not affected by up to 100 mg Cu/kg in the soil. Therefore, the phytotoxic effect of Cu on plants increased as the concentration of Cu was raised, although to different extents depending on whether the Cu was in soil or water. Overall, Cu removal from soil by C. communis was most effective at 100 mg Cu/kg in soil and 10 mg Cu/L in water. Finally, we identified two peaks of Cu-binding ligands in C. communis. Which is a high molecular weight peak (HMWL) at 60 kDa (Fraction 17 to 25) and a Cu binding peptide peak at <1 kDa (Very low molecular weight ligand: VLMWL). Cu-binding peptide (Cu-BP) was observed to have an amino acid composition typical of phytochelations.