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Worldwide contamination of arsenic in aquatic systems requires the development of a cost-effective, in situ phytoremediation technology. Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle, a submerged macrophyte widely distributed throughout the world, has the potential to effectively remove heavy metals from water. In order to understand the potential of H. verticillata for As phytofiltration and its impacts on As cycling in the water system, we investigated As accumulation, speciation and translocation in H. verticillata plants. Plant shoots showed a significant accumulation of As, with a maximum of >700 μg g(-1) dry weight (DW) after exposure to 20 μM arsenate [As(V)] or arsenite [As(III)] for 4d, with no significant differences between the As(V) and As(III) treatments (P>0.05). In addition, results of an in planta transport experiment showed that, after exposure of root and shoot to 2μM As(V) and As(III) for 4d, the bioconcentration factor (BCF) in roots for As(V) was almost twofold than that of As(III). Higher As BCFs in roots compared to shoots was also observed. Arsenic accumulated primarily in the cell walls of root cells (>73% of the total As in roots) and in the soluble parts of leaves (>60% of the total As in leaves). Regardless of the form of As supplied [As(III) or As(V)], As(V) was the dominant form in roots and As(III) was the dominant form in leaves. Further, basipetal translocation of As in this plant (≥17%) was markedly higher than acropetal translocation (≤3%). Because of accumulation of As in the shoot and immobilization of As below ground in roots, H. verticillata is a potential As phytofiltrator for bioremediation., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Using submerged aquatic plant is a cheap and clean technique to remediate heavy metals in wastewaters. Batch experiments were conducted to assess the biosorption characteristics of Pb (II) ions by fresh tissues of Hydrilla verticallata. The biosorption of Pb(II) was examined for single, binary and ternary solutions at different initial concentrations and different pH values. The experimental results showed that the biosorption capacity increased with increasing pH from 2.0 to 6.0. The biosorption value reached 44.65 mg/g when initial lead concentration was 250 mg/L and pH = 5. Both Cu (II) and Zn(II) ions were found to have an adverse effect on the biosorption of Pb(II) for binary and ternary solutions. In Pb-Cu binary metal solution, when both initial concentrations of lead and copper ions were 250 mg/L, the biosorption capacity for lead ions was decreased to 49.29% of that in single lead ion solution. The biosorption equilibrium data for the Pb-Cu binary metal solution fitted the Langmuir competitive model well (R2 = 0.966). The theoretical q(max) value (58.02 mg/g) was in excellent consistent with that obtained experimentally, and the average relative error between calculated q(e) and experimental q(e) values was only 15.6%. Comparison between biosorption of Pb (II) and Cu (II) by H. verticallata in the binary solution could lead to the conclusion that H. verticallata has no preference of Pb(II) over Cu(II).

A comprehensive understanding of the uptake, tolerance and transport of heavy metals in the wetland system through aquatic plants will be essential for the development of phytoremediation technologies. Copper accumulation and translocation of a submersed macrophyte Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle were investigated. Plant shoots showed a significant accumulation of Cu with a maximum of 30830 mg Cu kg⁻¹ dry weight after exposed to 4000 μg L⁻¹ Cu for 4d. Both roots and shoots can directly take up Cu from solution and Cu mainly accumulated in cell wall fractions. Moreover, H. verticillata predominantly accumulated Cu through shoots from the aqueous solutions because of the higher weights and bioaccumulation factors of shoots than those of roots. Acropetal translocation of Cu in the plant is higher than the basipetal translocation, which implies that upward translocation of Cu is mainly via the xylem and downward translocation is mainly through the phloem. These findings contribute to the application of submerged aquatic plants to copper removal from moderately contaminated waters., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this paper, submersed plant Hydrilla verticillata was cultivated in a 1/10 Hoagland culture medium added with different concentration NH4 + -N (0, 0. 5, 2. 0, 4. 0 mg x L(-1)) and 10 mg x L(-1) cadmium to study the effects of NH4 + -N on H. verticillata growth and its antioxidant enzyme system under Cd stress, and approach the degradation mechanism of submersed macrophyte in eutrophic and polluted water bodies. The results showed that under 10 mg x L(-1) Cd stress, the chlorophyll content of H. verticillata decreased obviously, and SOD and POD activities increased first but declined then. NH4 + -N accelerated the stress effect of Cd. Under 0. 5 h joint stress of Cd and NH4 + -N, SOD activity increased significantly, while such an increase needed 3 hours under single Cd stress. Relative to chlorophyll and protein, antioxidant enzyme system was an early sensitive index, and SOD was more sensitive than POD. After two days exposure to Cd plus NH4 -N, H. verticillata was mainly stressed by Cd, and NH4+ -N stress could be neglected.

Effects of chitosan on a submersed plant, Hydrilla verticillata, were investigated. Results indicated that H. verticillata could prevent ultrastructure phytotoxicities and oxidativereaction from polluted water with high chemical oxygen demand (COD). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in H. verticillata treated with 0.1% chitosan in wastewater increased with high COD (980 mg/L) and decreased with low COD (63 mg/L), respectively. Ultrastructural analysis showed that the stroma and grana of chloroplast basically remained normal. However, plant cells from the control experiment (untreated with chitosan) were vacuolated and the cell interval increased. The relict of protoplast moved to the center, with cells tending to disjoint. Our findings indicate that wastewater with high COD concentration can cause a substantial damage to submersed plant, nevertheless, chitosan probably could alleviate the membrane lipid peroxidization and ultrastructure phytotoxicities, and protect plant cells from stress of high COD concentration polluted water.

Combined pollution is more ubiquitous than the single pollution in water and soil environment. Iodine method was used to study the effects of both single and combined pollution of Cd and NH4+ on Hydrilla verticillata and Myriophyllurn spicatum. Results came out that H. verticillata was distinctly stressed at 4.0 mg x L(-1) concentration of NHI4+, oxygen production of photosynthesis and oxygen depletion of respiration all declined, but for M. spicatum ,it was not be stressed. If treated with 0.2 mg x L(-1) Cd, H. verticillata and M. spicatum all were stressed, and H. verticillata was stressed more seriously. Combined pollution of Cd and NH4+ produced cooperative adverse effects on H. verticillata. But for M. spicatum, the stress was less severe comparatively. The main reason was that M. spicatum made of less crude cellulose. So it had less combined pathway with heavy mental than H. wvrticillata. It demonstrated that M. spicatum is suit for pioneer plant comparatively during the process of lake restoration.

Equilibrium sorption isotherms for Cu2+ onto Hydrilla verticillata Royle and Myriophyllum spicatum were studied. Both methods of linear and non-linear fitting were applied to describe the sorption isotherms, and their applicability were analyzed and compared. The results were: (1) The applicability of simulated equation can't be compared only by R2 and chi2 when equilibrium sorption model was used to quantify and contrast the performance of different biosorbents. Both methods of linear and non-linear fitting can be applied in different fitting equations to describe the equilibrium sorption isotherms respectively in order to obtain the actual and credible fitting results, and the fitting equation best accorded with experimental data can be selected; (2) In this experiment, the Langmuir model is more suitable to describe the sorption isotherm of Cu2+ biosorption by H. verticillata and M. spicatum, and there is greater difference between the experimental data and the calculated value of Freundlich model, especially for the linear form of Freundlich model; (3) The content of crude cellulose in dry matter is one of the main factor affecting the biosorption capacity of a submerged aquatic plant, and -OH and -CONH2 groups of polysaccharides on cell wall maybe are active center of biosorption; (4) According to the coefficients qm of the linear form of Langmuir model, the maximum sorption capacity of Cu2+ was found to be 21.55 mg/g and 10.80mg/g for H. verticillata and M. spicatum, respectively. The maximum specific surface area for H. verticillata for binding Cu2+ was 3.23m2/g, and it was 1.62m2/g for M. spicatum.