| The environmental risk of chelating agents such as EDTA application to the heavy metals polluted soils and the stress on plant roots due to the abrupt increase metals concentration limit the wide commercial use of chelate-induced phytoextraction. Chelating agent ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) were used for enhancing heavy metals uptake from soils by Zea mays L. (corn) in pot experiments. The metals content in plant tissues was quantified using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The results showed that the combination of IAA and EDTA increased the biomass by about 40.0% and the contents of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in corn shoots by 27.0%, 26.8%, 27.5% and 32.8% respectively, as compared to those in EDTA treatment. While NTA&IAA treatment increased the biomass by about 29.9% and the contents of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in corn shoots by 31.8%, 27.6%, 17.0% and 26.9% respectively, as compared to those in NTA treatment. These results indicated that corn growth was promoted, and the biomass and the accumulation of heavy metals in plant shoots were increased significantly with the addition of IAA, which probably helps to change the cell membrane properties and the biomass distribution, resulting in the alleviation of the phytotoxicity of metals and the chelating agents. |
