Fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in plant-soil systems: Plant responses to a chemical stress in the root zone

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10121890· OSTI ID:10121890

Hoylman, Anne M. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Under laboratory conditions selected to maximize root uptake, plant tissue distribution of PAH-derived ¹⁴C was largely limited to root tissue of Malilotus alba. These results suggest that plant uptake of PAHs from contaminated soil via roots, and translocation to aboveground plant tissues (stems and leaves), is a limited mechanism for transport into terrestrial food chains. However, these data also indicate that root surface sorption of PAHs may be important for plants grown in soils containing elevated concentration PAHs. Root surface sorption of PAHs may be an important route of exposure for plants in soils containing elevated concentrations of PAHS. Consequently, the root-soil interface may be the site of plant-microbial interactions in response to a chemical stress. In this study, evidence of a shift in carbon allocation to the root zone of plants exposed to phenanthrene and corresponding increases in soil respiration and heterotrophic plate counts provide evidence of a plant-microbial response to a chemical stress. The results of this study establish the importance of the root-soil interface for plants growing in PAH contaminated soil and indicate the existence of plant-microbial interactions in response to a chemical stress. These results may provide new avenues of inquiry for studies of plant toxicology, plant-microbial interactions in the rhizosphere, and environmental fates of soil contaminants. In addition, the utilization of plants to enhance the biodegradation of soil contaminants may require evaluation of plant physiological changes and plant shifts in resource allocation.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 10121890
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-12650; ON: DE94006501
• Resource Relation: Other Information: DN: Thesis submitted by A. M. Hoylman to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN: Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 4206; TH: Thesis (Ph.D.); PBD: Jan 1994
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
PLANTS
BIOLOGICAL STRESS
NAPHTHALENE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
SOILS
ROOTS
CARBON 14
CONTAMINATION
540120
540130
CHEMICALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT