TY - JOUR
T1 - Biochar Improves the Growth Performance of Maize Seedling in Response to Antimony Stress
AU - Zhu, Pengfei
AU - Zhu, Jirong
AU - Pang, Jiayin
AU - Xu, Wenwen
AU - Shu, Liangzuo
AU - Hu, Hongqing
AU - Wu, Yang
AU - Tang, Cenpeng
PY - 2020/4
Y1 - 2020/4
N2 - Antimony (Sb) contamination has become an increasing environmental concern. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of biochar application on the maize seedling grown in Sb-contaminated soil. Two Sb levels (0, 200 mg kg−1) and three biochar rates (0, 1%, 4%) were included, giving a combination of six treatments. The results showed that exposure to Sb without biochar application (Sb2BC0) induced undesirable effects on maize seedlings, such as the inhibited growth of leaves, stems, and roots; the disorder of antioxidant system; and the reduced uptake of nutrients. Compared with Sb2BC0, biochar application to Sb-treated plants alleviated the negative effects of Sb, possibly due to the following findings: (1) the enhanced activities of SOD, POD, and CAT and the increased leaf chlorophyll content while accompanied with the reduced MDA content; (2) the increased N, P, and K content in both shoot and root; (3) the decreased shoot Sb accumulation due to the reduced translocation efficiency from root to shoot. In contrast, biochar application to nil Sb-treated soil had no significant effect on maize growth. Biochar application also immobilized soil Sb by transforming the relatively available fractions to geochemically more stable Fe and Al oxides bound fractions. These results indicated great potential of using biochar to reduce soil Sb availability for Sb-contaminated soil.
AB - Antimony (Sb) contamination has become an increasing environmental concern. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of biochar application on the maize seedling grown in Sb-contaminated soil. Two Sb levels (0, 200 mg kg−1) and three biochar rates (0, 1%, 4%) were included, giving a combination of six treatments. The results showed that exposure to Sb without biochar application (Sb2BC0) induced undesirable effects on maize seedlings, such as the inhibited growth of leaves, stems, and roots; the disorder of antioxidant system; and the reduced uptake of nutrients. Compared with Sb2BC0, biochar application to Sb-treated plants alleviated the negative effects of Sb, possibly due to the following findings: (1) the enhanced activities of SOD, POD, and CAT and the increased leaf chlorophyll content while accompanied with the reduced MDA content; (2) the increased N, P, and K content in both shoot and root; (3) the decreased shoot Sb accumulation due to the reduced translocation efficiency from root to shoot. In contrast, biochar application to nil Sb-treated soil had no significant effect on maize growth. Biochar application also immobilized soil Sb by transforming the relatively available fractions to geochemically more stable Fe and Al oxides bound fractions. These results indicated great potential of using biochar to reduce soil Sb availability for Sb-contaminated soil.
KW - Antimony contamination
KW - Antimony fraction
KW - Biochar
KW - Growth performance
KW - Maize seedling
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082565910&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11270-020-04521-1
DO - 10.1007/s11270-020-04521-1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85082565910
SN - 0049-6979
VL - 231
JO - Water, Air and Soil Pollution
JF - Water, Air and Soil Pollution
IS - 4
M1 - 154
ER -