Determination of Morphological and PhysiologicalChanges of Ornamental Cabbage (Brassica oleraceavar. acephala) Against Boron Toxicity inPhytoremediation

Abstract

Boron toxicity in agricultural lands limits plant breeding as a plant nutritionproblem. Some plants are able to tolerate high levels of heavy metals atpotentially toxic doses, accumulate them in their bodies and remove them fromthe soil. In this study, it was aimed to determine the morphological andphysiological responses of ornamental cabbage in phytoremediation againstboron toxicity. This study was conducted under controlled greenhouseconditions, 4 different boron doses (0, 10, 25, and 50 mg kg-1 B) were appliedto 2 different soil structures (acidic (S1) and alkaline (S2) soils). Toxicitysymptoms were appeared at 50 mg kg-1 B. At alkaline soil, plant weights andvisual properties of plants were found to be low in quality. Results show thatas the boron dose increased, shoot-root fresh and dry weight, stomatalconductance, chlorophyll content, relative water content (RWC) weredecreased. Boron accumulation in the shoot, root and whole plant was at 50mg kg-1 B. As a result, it is understood that ornamental cabbage used fordecontamination of boron element by phytoremediation method for the firsttime in this study. We suggest that it has a potential to as hyper-accumulatorplant for the remediation of boron-contaminated soil.