Characteristics of dissolved organic matter in the rhizosphere of
light-irradiated Arabidopsis thaliana during phytoextraction
Abstract
Light, one of the most important natural resources for plant species,
significantly influences the biomass yield and nutrient uptake capacity
in plants. However, the impacts of light treatment on the toxicity of
metals in soils has rarely been reported. Light irradiation treatments
were performed to evaluate the influence of red, yellow, and blue lights
on the concentrations and fractions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in
the rhizosphere soils of Arabidopsis thaliana. The results showed that
monochromatic red light significantly raised the levels of DOM and
proportions of hydrophilic fractionations in the rhizosphere of A.
thaliana relative to the control, while monochromatic blue light had the
opposite effect. Moreover, the proportions of hydrophobic acid, which
can mobilize Cd effectively, also raised with increasing doses of red
light, which stimulated Cd mobilization. The application of yellow light
not only increased the levels of hydrophobic acid in monochromatic red
light treatment, but also decreased the proportion of hydrophobic
fractions in monochromatic blue light treatment, partially weakening the
negative impacts of pure blue light on soil Cd activation. Moreover, DOM
from the combined red, yellow, and blue lights resulted in a
significantly stronger Cd extraction efficiency compared with the other
light irradiation treatments, consequently enhancing the Cd
phytoextraction efficiency of A. thaliana. The findings of this study
demonstrated that a suitable light combination can enhance the
phytoremediation effect of A. thaliana by activating soil Cd, and this
method can be extrapolated to the real field, where light irradiation
can be easily applied.