Metal(loid)s Uptake and Effects on the Growth of Helianthus tuberosus Cultivar-Clones Under Multi-Polluted Hydroponic Cultures

Helianthus tuberosus is a high biomass crop recently proposed as a candidate for use in phytotechnologies on metal polluted soils. The present work reports data concerning plant growth, metal(loid) uptake and the metal(loid)-nutrient interactions of two cultivar-clones of H. tuberosus (VR and D19). Three hydroponic experiments were performed separately: T1: 30 mg.L-1 of As(V), Cd, Cr(VI), and Ni; T2: 30 mg.L-1 of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd; T3: 30 mg.L-1 of As(V), Cd, and Ni. Theoretical estimation of the metal(loid) speciation in the nutrient solution was evaluated by MINTEQA2. The aerial biomass of both cultivar-clones was not significantly reduced with T2 and T3 in comparison to the controls. T1 was the most toxic treatment for H. tuberosus, due to the presence of Cr(VI) in the mixture. D19 accumulated higher concentrations of metal in tissues than VR, and showed an effective mobilization of Pb to the stems. Although both cultivar-clones showed high capacity to grow in presence of multiple toxic metal(loid)s, D19 showed better characteristics than VR to become a potential candidate for use in phytotechnologies.