New evidence of the arsenic uptake and translocation in As-hyperaccumulator fern Pteris cretica using a modified hydroponic system.

Pteris cretica is a native fern in temperate regions known for its ability to hyperaccumulate arsenic (As). However, the uptake and translocation of As in hydroponic conditions have remained poorly understood. In this study, we modified a hydroponic cultivation system, combining 24 plants into one unit, to suppress individual differences among plants and evaluate As uptake and translocation in P. cretica. The 7-day short-term As removal experiment results revealed that the As uptake rate by P. cretica appears to be dependent on the initial As concentration in the hydroponic medium. Furthermore, the rhizomes play a role in regulating As translocation from roots to fronds in P. cretica was observed. In the 27-day long-term continuous flow experiment, approximately 1 mg/d of As was removed by P. cretica with 200 μg/L As applied. Moreover, the long-term translocation factor (TF) between rhizomes and roots and between fronds and rhizomes from the 27-day long-term continuous flow experiment demonstrated the same pattern as the short-term TF from the 7-day short-term As removal experiment, further indicating the role of rhizomes in regulating As translocation from roots to fronds in P. cretica.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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