PELARGONIUM RADULA AS A PLANT BIOINDICATOR IN MONITORING MERCURY IN DRINKING WATER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v77.6699Keywords:
Plant bioindicator, biomonitoring, Hg, drinking water, Pelargonium radulaAbstract
Pollution by organic and inorganic toxic substances has raised public and environmental concern globally since last decade. However, due to rapid growth of world population along with excessive industrial development, this situation worsens. One of the non-essential heavy metals, mercury (Hg), is a widespread toxic pollutant commonly found in drinking water sources. Therefore, there is a need to monitor the level of Hg in the drinking water. Biomonitoring, which use biological response to assess environmental changes, is one of the approaches that are getting more attention recently. Plant bioindicator offers huge advantages over conventional water quality analysis. Other than cheap, easy to apply and give rapid results; most importantly, people in the rural area can apply this method to monitor water quality without the need of modern equipment and technical expertise. In this study, young leaves from terrestrial plants were treated with water containing Hg solutions. Plant that showed visible morphological changes was selected as potential bioindicator and further analyzed. Over 60 plants were screened including herbs, shrubs and flowering plants. At the 24th h of observation, 15 plants showed morphological changes with several obvious symptoms, including the presence of dark spot, chlorosis, browning of leaves and wrinkle. Among these plants, Plectranthus amboinicus, Lantana camara and Pelargonium radula treated with Hg solutions exhibited morphological changes at the 6th h of treatment, compared to the control. In the present study, Pelargonium radula was chosen as the Hg bioindicator as it gave the fastest and visible morphological changes, which is within 4 h of treatment. This new finding was promising, as it demonstrated that plants could be used for Hg biomonitoring for the safety of drinking water.
References
Azrina, A., Khoo, H. E., Idris, M. A., Ismail, A. and Razman, M. R. 2011. Evaluation of Selected Metal Elements in Commercial Drinking Water and Tap Water in Peninsular Malaysia. Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia. 9(1): 5-11.
Chan, N. W. 2009. Issues and Challenges in Water Governance in Malaysia. Iranian Journal of Environmental Health, Science and Engineering. 6(3): 143-152.
Khoo, H. E., Azrina, A., Idris, M. A., Ismail, A. and Razman, M. R. 2011. Evaluation of Selected Metal Elements in Commercial Drinking Water and Tap Water in Peninsular Malaysia. Jurnal Sains Kesihatan. 9(1): 5-11.
Kita, G. and Skoblewski, P. 2010. Biosorption of Heavy Metals – Modern and Cheap Method of Polluted Wastewater Treatment. Food Chemistry and Biotechnology. 74: 99-105.
Shahmansouri, M. R., Pourmoghaddas, H. and Shams, G. 2003. Leakage of Trace Metals by Internal Corrosion into Drinking Water Distribution System. Diffuse Pollution Conference Dublin 2003. 96-99.
Khan, A. G., Kuek, C., Chaudhry, T. M., Khoo, C. S. and Hayes, W. J. 2000. Role of Plants, Mycorrhizae and Phytochelators in Heavy Metal Contaminated Land Remediation. Chemosphere. 197-207.
Duruibe, J. O., Ogwuegbu, M. O. C. and Egwurugwu, J. N. 2007. Heavy Metal Pollution and Human Biotoxic Effects. International Journal of Physical Sciences. 2(5): 112-118.
Emara, A. M and Zayet, H. H. 2011. Major Chemical Disasters in Egypt and Abroad Part 1: Abroad. Egyptian Journal of Occupational Medicine. 35(2): 237-255.
Zurayk, R., Sukkariyah, B. and Baalbaki, R. 2001. Common Hydrophytes as Bioindicators of Nickel, Chromium and Cadmium Pollution. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 127: 373-388.
Carignan, V. and Villard, M-A. 2002. Selecting Indicator Species to Monitor Ecological Integrity: A Review. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 78: 45-61.
Lasat, M. M. 2000. Phytoextraction of Metals from Contaminated Soil: A Review of Plant/Soil/Metal Interaction and Assessment of Pertinent Agronomic Issues. Journal of Hazardous Substance Research. 2: 1-25.
Krystofova, O., Shestivska, V., Galiova, M., Novotny, K., Kaiser, J., Zehnalek, J., Babula, P., Opatrilova, R., Adam, V. and Kizek, R. 2009. Sunflower Plants as Bioindicators of Environmental Pollution with Lead (II) Ions. Sensors. 9: 5040-5058.
Saxena, P. and Ghosh, C. 2013. Ornamental Plants as Sink and Bioindicators. Environmental Technology. 34(23): 3071-3079.
Benabid, H., Ghorab, M. F. and Djebaili, A. 2008. Cadmium as an Environmental Pollutant Use of Plant as Bio-Indicator of Pollution (In vivo Experimentation) Influence of Cadmium on Chlorophyll Content of Canadian Wonder Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Research Journal of Applied Sciences. 3: 66-69.
Dobroviczká, T., PirÅ¡elová, B. and MatuÅ¡Ãková, I. 2012. The Effect of Cadmium Epidermis of Leaves of Two Soybean Varieties. International scientific conference of PhD students and young scientists and pedagogues. Retrieved from http://conferences.ukf.sk/index.php/phdconf.
Agrawal, V. and Sharma, K. 2006. Phytotoxic Effects of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb on In Vitro Regeneration and Concomitant Protein Changes in Holarrhena antidysenterica. Biologia Plantarum. 50(2): 307-310.
Sharma, P. and Dubey, R.S. 2005. Lead Toxicity in Plants. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology. 17(1): 35-52.
Ministry of Health. 2004. National Standard for Drinking Water Quality. Engineering Service Division Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
Rellán-Ãlvarez, R., Ortega-Villasante, C., Ãlvarez-Fernández, A., Del Campo, F.F. and Hernández, L.E. 2006. Stress Responses of Zea mays to Cadmium and Mercury. Plant and Soil. 279: 41-50.
An, Y. J. 2004. Soil Ecotoxicology Assessment Using Cadmium Sensitive Plants. Environmental Pollution. 127: 21-26.
Shu, X., Yin, L., Zhang, Q. and Wang, W. 2012. Effect of Pb Toxicity on Leaf Growth, Antioxidant Enzyme Activities, and Photosynthesis in Cuttings and Seedlings of Jatropha curcas L. Environmental Science Pollution Research. 19: 893-902.
Pandey, N. and Sharma, C.P. 2002. Effect of Heavy Metals Co2+, Ni2+ and Cd2+ on Growth and Metabolism of Cabbage. Plant Science. 163: 753-758.
Pandey, N., Pathak, G. C., Pandey, D. K. and Pandey, R. 2009. Heavy Metals, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd, Produce Oxidative Damage And Evoke Differential Antioxidant Responses In Spinach. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology. 21(2): 103-111.
Benavides, M. P., Gallego, S. M. and Tomaro, M. L. 2005. Cadmium Toxicity in Plants. Braz. J. Plant Physiol. 17(1): 21-34.
Viehweger, K. 2014. How Plants Cope with Heavy Metals. Botanical Studies. 55: 35.
Yang, Y. Y., Jung, J. Y., Song, W. Y., Suh, H. S. and Lee, Y. 2000. Identification of Rice Varieties with High Tolerance or Sensitivity to Lead and Characterization of the Mechanism of Tolerance. Plant Physiology. 124: 1019-1026.
Hue, N. V., Craddock, G. R. and Adams, F. 1986. Effect of Organic Acids on Aluminium Toxicity in Subsoils. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 50: 28-34.
Zuraida, A. R.,Mohd Shukri, M. A., Erny Sabrina, M. N. and Ayu Nazreena, O. 2015. Improvement of Regeneration of Pelargonium radula via Somatic Embryogenesis. British Biotechnology Journal. 5(4): 166-173.
James, K. S. 2003. Pelargonium species. In: Balchin, M. L. Geraniums or Pelargonium: The Genera Geranium and Pelargonium. New Fetter Lane, London: Taylor and Francis. 11-15.
Coopoosamy, R. M. and Naidoo K. K. (2011). Anatomical Features of the Medicinal Importance of Aloe excelsa (berger). African Journal of Biotechnology. 10(39): 7622-7632.
Raven, P. H. and Johnson, G. B. 2002. Biology. 6th Edition. Boston, Massachusetts: McGraw-Hill. 807-836.
Yruela, I. 2005. Copper in Plants. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology. 17(1): 145-156.
Percival, G. C., Keary, I. P. and Noviss, K. 2008. The Potential of a Chlirophyll Content SPAD Meter to Quantity Nutrient Stress in Foliar Tissue of Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), English Oak (Quercus robus), and European Beech (Fagus sylvatica). Arboriculture and Urban Forestry. 34(2) 89-100.
Brinza, L., Nygård, C. A., Dring, M. J., Gavrilescu, M. and Benning, L. G. 2009. Cadmium Tolerance and Adsorption by the Marine Brown Alga Fucus vesiculosus from the Irish Sea and the Bothnian Sea. Bioresource Technology. 100: 1727-1733.
Hao, H. Q., Shi, G. X., Du, K. H. and Xu, Q. S. 2001. Toxic Effect of Hg2+ on Physiology and Ultrastructure of Hydrocharis dubia. Journal of Lake Sciences. 13(2): 163-168.
Chen, Y. 1999. Bioremediation of Pollution in Soil. Progress of Environmental Science. 2: 7-11.
Cheng, S. 2003. Effects of Heavy Metals on Plants and Resistance Mechanisms. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 10(4): 256-264.
Matile, P., Hortensteiner, S. and Thomas, H. 1999. Chlorophyll Degradation. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology. 50: 67-95.
Khadijeh, B., Bahman, K. and Ali, M. 2011. Effects of Cadmium on Growth, Protein Content and Peroxidase Activity in Pea Plants. Pakistan Journal of Botany. 43(3): 1467-1470.
Azevedo, R. and Rodriguez, E. 2012. Phytotoxicity of Mercury in Plants: A Review. Journal of Botany. 1-6.
Farid, M., Shakoor, M. B., Ehsan, S., Ali, S., Zubair, M. and Hanif, M. A. 2013. Morphological, Physiological and Biochemical Responses on Different Plant Species to Cd Stress. International Journal of Chemical and Biochemical Sciences. 3(2013): 53-60.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright of articles that appear in Jurnal Teknologi belongs exclusively to Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Penerbit UTM Press). This copyright covers the rights to reproduce the article, including reprints, electronic reproductions, or any other reproductions of similar nature.
