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Arsenic (As) contaminated soils and waters are becoming major global environmental and human health risks. The identification of natural hyperaccumulators of As opens the door for phytoremediation of the arsenic contaminant. Pteris vittata is the first identified naturally evolving As hyperaccumulator. More than a decade after its discovery, we have made great progress in understanding the uptake, transport, and detoxification of As in the fern. The molecular mechanisms controlling As accumulation in P. vittata are now beginning to be recognized. In this review, we will try to summarize what we have learned about this As accumulator, with particular emphasis on the current knowledge of the physiological and molecular mechanisms of arsenic phytoremediation. We also discuss the potential strategies to further enhance phytoextraction abilities of P. vittata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safe incineration of harvested hyperaccumulators containing high content of heavy metals to avoid secondary environmental pollution is a problem for popularizing phytoremediation technology. The As volatilization behavior and its mechanism during incineration of Pteris vittata, an As-hyperaccumulator, was investigated. Incineration results reveal that 24% of total As accumulated by P. vittata (H-As) containing high As content (1170 mg/kg) is emitted at 800 °C, of which 62.5% of the total emitted As is volatilized below 400 °C. A study of the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) shows that part of As(III) was identified in the thermal decomposition residue of dried P. vittata (H-As), As2O5 + P. vittata (L-As) containing low As content (14.7 mg/kg), and As2O5 + charcoal (C) at 200 °C, suggesting that carbon originating from biomass incineration might catalyze As(V) reduction. This speculation was tested through thermogravimetric experiments, in which either C or P. vittata (L-As) markedly catalyzed the volatilization of pure As2O5 at low temperature. Therefore, the reduction of As(V) to As(III) is responsible for As volatilization during incineration of P. vittata below 400 °C. This study provides important insights into As behavior during incineration of As-hyperaccumulators, which is helpful to safely dispose harvested biomass with high As content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]