It is observed that ramie (Boehmeria nivea), an economic fiber crop, can establish and colonize metal-contaminated sites in China. Metal tolerance and accumulation by ramie originating from 13 metal-contaminated and 4 "clean" sites in China were compared under field and hydroponic conditions. All selected populations and germplasms displayed good growth performance under diverse metal-contaminated habitats; while growth responses, metal accumulation and tolerance were similar among the 8 populations and 2 germplasms when exposed to solutions containing elevated As, Cd, Pb, or Zn in the laboratory. These revealed that ramie possesses a certain degree of constitutional metal tolerance. To our knowledge, this is the first report of constitutional metal tolerance possessed by a fiber crop. Ramie can be considered as a good candidate for both fiber production and phytoremediation of sites contaminated by multi-metals, as it accumulates relative low metal concentrations, but possesses both high biomass and high economic value. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
CitationYang, B., Zhou, M., Shu, W. S., Lan, C. Y., Ye, Z. H., Qiu, R. L., . . . Wong, M. H. (2010). Constitutional tolerance to heavy metals of a fiber crop, ramie (Boehmeria nivea), and its potential usage. Environmental Pollution, 158(2), 551-558. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2009.08.043
- Constitutional tolerance
- Heavy metals