Exogenously applied oxalic acid assists in the phytoremediation of Mn by Polygonum pubescens Blume cultivated in three Mn-contaminated soils

Highlights

• The OA supply significantly increased the water-extractable Mn in all soils.

• All OA supply levels promoted plant growth in unexplored soil.

• Low OA supply level promoted plant growth in explored and tailing soils.

• OA amendment increased the Mn concentrations and total Mn in P. pubescens.

• P. pubescens experienced less Mn stress in unexplored soil than in the other two soils.

Abstract

The current study evaluated the effects of oxalic acid (OA) application on the growth and Mn phytoremediation efficiency of Polygonum pubescens Blume cultivated in three different manganese (Mn)-contaminated soils sampled from an unexplored area (US), an explored area (ES) and a tailing area (TS) of the Ertang Mn mine, South China. The supplied levels of OA were 0 (control), 1 (low level), 3 (medium level), and 9 (high level) mmol/kg, referred to as CK, OA1, OA3 and OA9, respectively. The results revealed that the average water-extractable Mn concentrations US, ES and TS amended with OA increased by 214.13, 363.77 and 266.85%, respectively. All OA supply levels increased plant growth and Mn concentrations in US. The low OA supply level increased plant growth in ES and TS; however, contrasting results were found for the medium and high OA supply levels. Plant Mn concentrations and total Mn increased in ES and TS in response to all OA supply levels. Total Mn in the aerial parts increased by 81.18, 44.17 and 83.17% in US, ES and TS, respectively; the corresponding percentages for the whole plants were 81.53, 108.98 and 77.91%, respectively. The rate of ·O₂⁻ production and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations increased in response to OA amendment, especially the medium and high OA supply levels in ES and TS. In general, antioxidant enzymes might play a vital role in alleviating Mn stress in plants cultivated in US, while non-enzymatic antioxidants might be the main factor for plants cultivated in ES and TS.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Phytoremediation / Mn-contaminated soil / Mn hyperaccumulator / Oxalic acid / Remediation efficiency

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41967019 and 41661077), the National Key Technologies Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFD0801500), the Guangxi Science and Technology Development Project of Major Projects of Guangxi (Guike AA17204047-3), and Scientific Research and Technology Development Program of Guilin (Nos. 20190205 and 20180107-3).

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