Cadmium uptake potential of Brassica napus cocropped with Brassica parachinensis and Zea mays

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Author's personal copy Journal of Hazardous Materials 167 (2009) 170–178

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Cadmium uptake potential of Brassica napus cocropped with Brassica parachinensis and Zea mays Ammaiyappan Selvam, Jonathan Woon-Chung Wong ∗ Sino-Forest Applied Research Centre for Pearl River Delta Environment, Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, SAR, Hong Kong

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Article history: Received 3 July 2008 Received in revised form 11 December 2008 Accepted 19 December 2008 Available online 30 December 2008 Keywords: Cocropping Hyperaccumulation Phytoextraction Phytoremediation

a b s t r a c t Cadmium uptake potential of Brassica napus cocropped with B. parachinensis or Zea mays plants in split pot (allow the solutes to pass but prevent the interaction of roots between compartments) experiments was evaluated. Plants were grown in split pots filled with soil spiked at 0, 3, 6, 12, 25 and 50 mg Cd/kg soil. Biomass and Cd uptake were detemined after 6 weeks, and rhizospheric soil solutions, extracted using soil probes, were analyzed for pH and water soluble Cd at weekly intervals. Cadmium treatments affected the biomass. Cadmium concentration in the shoots of B. napus was higher when cocropped with B. parachinensis and significantly higher with Z. mays; however, the biomass was negatively affected implying the higher nutrient apportionment to the crop plants than B. napus. Concentration of Cd in B. napus was higher in shoots than in roots as revealed by shoot/root Cd quotient and was always >1; the quotient for B. parachinensis was ∼1 and that of Z. mays was