Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Phytoremediation potential of the duckweeds Lemna minuta and Lemna minor to remove nutrients from treated waters

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Phytoremediation potential of duckweeds (Lemna minuta, Lemna minor) to remove nutrients from simulated wastewater was analyzed. In two separate experiments, the two species were grown for 28 days in waters enriched with nitrate and phosphate to simulate nutrient concentrations of domestic wastewater. Water physical and chemical measurements (temperature, pH, conductivity, oxygen) and plant physiological and biochemical analysis (biomass, relative growth rate–RGR, nutrient and chlorophyll contents, peroxidative damage, bioconcentration factor–BCF) were made to test and compare the phytoremediation capacity of the two Lemna species. L. minuta biomass increased almost tenfold during the time-course of the treatment resulting in a doubling of the mat thickness and a RGR of 0.083 ± 0.001 g/g day. Maximum frond content of phosphate was reached by day 21 (increase over 165%) and nitrate by day 7 (10%). According to the BCF results (BCF > 1000), L. minuta was a hyperaccumulator for both nutrients. On the other hand, L. minor biomass and mat thickness decreased continuously during incubation (RGR = − 0.039 ± 0.004 g/g day). In L. minor fronds, phosphate content increased until day 14, after which there was a decrease until the end of the incubation. Frond nitrate content significantly decreased by day 7, but then remained relatively constant until the end of the experiment. L. minor proved to be hyperaccumulator for phosphates, but not for nitrates. Results indicated L. minuta has a greater potential than L. minor to remove both nutrients by bioaccumulation, especially phosphates, demonstrated also by better physiological and biochemical responses. However, during the incubation, the chlorophyll content of L. minuta mat did continuously decrease and peroxidative damage had increased until day 14, indicating that the system was under some kind of stress. Strategies to avoid this stress were discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Canada)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bailly C, Benamar A, Corbineau F, Côme D (1996) Changes in malondialdehyde contents and in superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione reductase activities in sunflower seed as related to deterioration during accelerated aging. Physiol Plant 97:104–110

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baker AJM (1981) Accumulators and excluders-strategies in the response of plants to heavy metals. J Plant Nutr 3:643–654

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boniardi N, Vatta G, Rota R, Nano N, Carrà S (1994) Removal of water pollutants by Lemna gibba. Chem Eng J Biochem Eng J 54 (2):41–48

  • Borin M (2003) Fitodepurazione. Soluzioni per il trattamento dei reflui con le piante. Edagricole, Bologna

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceschin S, Abati S, Leacche I, Iamonico D, Iberite M, Zuccarello V (2016a) Does the alien Lemna minuta show an invasive behavior outside its original range? Evidence of antagonism with the native L. minor in central Italy. Int Rev Hydrobiol 101(5–6):173–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceschin S, Della Bella V, Piccari F, Abati S (2016b) Colonization dynamics of the alien macrophyte Lemna minuta Kunth: a case study from a semi-natural pond in Appia Antica Regional Park (Rome, Italy). Fundam Appl Limnol 188:93–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceschin S, Leacche I, Pascucci S, Abati S (2016c) Morphological study of Lemna minuta Kunth, an alien species often mistaken for the native L. minor L. (Araceae). Aquat Bot 131:51–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceschin S, Abati S, Ellwood NTW, Zuccarello V (2018a) Riding invasion waves: spatial and temporal patterns of the invasive Lemna minuta from its arrival to its spread across Europe. Aquat Bot 150:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceschin S, Abati S, Leacche I, Zuccarello V (2018b) Ecological comparison between duckweeds in central Italy: the invasive Lemna minuta vs the native L. minor. Plant Biosyst 152:674–683

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceschin S, Abati S, Traversetti L, Spani F, Del Grosso F, Scalici M (2019a) Effects of the invasive duckweed Lemna minuta on aquatic animals: evidence from an indoor experiment. Plant Biosyst 153(6):749–755

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceschin S, Sgambato V, Ellwood NTW, Zuccarello V (2019b) Phytoremediation performance of Lemna communities in a constructed wetland system from Central Italy. Exp Appl Bot 162:67–71

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng J, Landesman L, Bergmann BA, Classen JJ, Howard JW, Yamamoto YT (2002) Nutrient removal from swine lagoon liquid by Lemna minor 8627. Trans ASAE 45:1003–1010

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiudioni F, Trabace T, Di Gennaro S, Palma A, Manes F, Mancini M (2017) Phytoremediation applications in natural condition and in mesocosm: the uptake of cadmium by Lemna minuta Kunth, a non-native species in Italian watercourses. Int J Phytoremediation 1:371–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Cui W, Cheng JJ (2015) Growing duckweed for biofuel production: a review. Plant Biol J 17:16–23

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Imperio M, Montesano FF, Renna M, Leoni B, Buttaro D, Parente A, Serio F (2018) NaCl stress enhances silicon tissue enrichment of hydroponic “baby leaf” chicory under biofortification process. Sci Hortic 235:258–263

    Google Scholar 

  • DAISIE (2008) European invasive alien species gateway. http://www.europe-aliens.org/

  • Driever SM, Nes EH, Roijackers RMM (2005) Growth limitation of L. minor due to high plant density. Aquat Bot 81:245–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Dukes JS, Mooney HA (1999) Does global change increase the success of biological invaders? TREE 14:135–139

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dussart G, Robertson J, Bramley J (1993) Death of a lake. Biol Sci Rev 5(5):8–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Glass ADM, Britto DT, Kaiser BN, Kinghorn JR, Kronzucker HJ, Kumar A, Okamoto M, Rawat S, Siddiqi MY, Unkles SE, Vidimar JJ (2002) The regulation of nitrate and ammonium transport systems in plants. J Exp Bot 53(370):855–864

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heath RL, Packer L (1968) Photoperoxidation in isolated chloroplasts: I. Kinetics and stoichiometry of fatty acid peroxidation. Arch Biochem Biophys 125:189–198

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang F, Guo Z, Xu Z (2007) Determined methods of chlorophyll from Lemma paucicostata. Exp Technol Manag 24:29–31

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iamonico D, Abati S, Iberite M (2010) Lemna minuta Kunth (Araceae) nel Lazio (Italia centrale): note morfologiche e osservazioni sui caratteri d’invasività. In: Proc. 18th Meeting Forum Natura Mediterraneo on “Le specie aliene nel Mediterraneo”, 2010 March 20–21; Paliano, Italy. http://www.naturamediterraneo.com/primoconvegnoNM/

  • Janes RA, Eaton JW, Hardwick K (1996) The effects of floating mats of Azolla filiculoides Lam. and Lemna minuta Kunth on the growth of submerged macrophytes. Hydrobiologia 340(1–3):23–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Körner S, Sk D, Veenstra S, Vermaat JE (2003) The capacity of duckweed to treat wastewater: ecological consideration for a sound design. J Environ Qual 32:1583–1590

    Google Scholar 

  • Landolt E (1986) The family of Lemnaceae. In: A monographyc study, vol 2. Veröff Geobot Inst ETH, Stifung rübel, Zurich

    Google Scholar 

  • Landolt E (1992) Lemnaceae: duckweed family. J Ariz Nev Acad Sci 26:10–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Landolt E, Kandeler R (1987) Biosystematic investigations in the family of duckweeds (Lemnaceae), vol 4. Geobotanischen Instutites der ETH, Zurich

    Google Scholar 

  • Laube HR, Whole JR (1973) Studies on the decomposition of a duckweed (Lemnaceae) community. Bull Torr Bot Club 100(4):238–240

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lemon GD, Gordon D, Posluszny U, Husband BC (2001) Potential and realized rates of vegetative reproduction in Spirodela polyrhiza, Lemna minor, and Wolffia borealis. Aquat Bot 70:79–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Mariani F, Di Giulio A, Fattorini S, Ceschin S (2020) Experimental evidence of the consumption of the invasive alien duckweed Lemna minuta by herbivorous larvae of the moth Cataclysta lemnata in Italy. Aquat Bot 161: 103172

  • Masotti L, Verlicchi P (2005) Depurazione delle acque di piccole comunità. Tecniche naturali e tecniche impiantistiche. Hoepli ed. Milano (in Italian)

  • Mkandawire M, Dudel EG (2007) Are Lemna spp. effective phytoremediation agents? Biorem Biodiv Bioavail 1:56–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Mkandawire M, Dudel EG, Taubert B (2004) Accumulation of Uranium in Lemna gibba L. in relation to milieau conditions of tailing waters in abandoned uranium mines in Germany. In: Jarvis AP, Dudgeon BA, Younger PL (eds) Mine water - process, policy and progress. University of Newcastle upon-Tyne Press, Newcastle, pp 9–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Njambuya J, Stiers I, Triest L (2011) Competition between Lemna minuta and Lemna minor at different nutrient concentrations. Aquat Bot 94:158–164

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ozengin N, Elmaci A (2007) Performance of duckweed (Lemna minor L.) on different types of wastewater treatment. J Environ Biol 28:307–314

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paisio CE, Fernandez M, González PS, Talano MA, Medina MI, Agostini E (2017) Simultaneous phytoremediation of chromium and phenol by Lemna minuta Kunth: a promising biotechnological tool. Int J Environ Sci Technol 15:37–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Paolacci S, Harrison S, Jansen MAK (2016) A comparative study of the nutrient responses of the invasive duckweed Lemna minuta, and the native co-generic species Lemna minor. Aquat Bot 134:47–53

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patel DK, Kanungo VK (2010) Phytoremediation potential of duckweed (Lemna minor L: a tiny aquatic plant) in the removal of pollutants from domestic wastewater with special reference to nutrients. Bioscan 5:355–358

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pietrini F, Bianconi D, Massacci A, Iannelli MA (2016) Combined effects of elevated CO2 and Cd-contaminated water on growth, photosynthetic response, Cd accumulation and thiolic components status in Lemna minor L. J Hazard Mater 309:77–86

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pokorný J, Rejmánková E (1983) Oxygen regime in a fishpond with duckweeds (Lemnaceae) and Ceratophyllum. Aquat Bot 17:125–137

    Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2018) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna https://www.R-project.org/

    Google Scholar 

  • Radford PJ (1967) Growth analysis formulae - their use and abuse. Crop Sci 7:171–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Raju AR, Anitha CT, Sidhimol PD, Rosna KJ (2010) Phytoremediation of domestic wastewater by using a free-floating aquatic angiosperm, Lemna minor. Nat Environ Pollut Technol 9:83–88

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarzenbach RP, Egli T, Hofstetter TB, von Gunten U, Wehrli B (2010) Global water pollution and human health. Annu Rev Environ Resour 35:109–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith FW, Mudge SR, Rae AL, Glassop D (2003) Phosphate transport in plants. Plant Soil 248(1–2):71–83

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sudiarto SIA, Renggaman A, Choi HL (2019) Floating aquatic plants for total nitrogen and phosphorus removal from treated swine wastewater and their biomass characteristics. J Environ Manag 23:763–769

    Google Scholar 

  • Unesco (2018) Nature-based solutions for water. United Nations world water development report. ISBN 978–92–3-100264-9. eBook

  • Van Echelpoel W, Boets P, Goethals PLM (2016) Functional response (FR) and relative growth rate (RGR) do not show the known invasiveness of Lemna minuta (Kunth). PLoS One 11(11):e0166132. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166132

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Welch EB, Lindell T (2004) Ecological effects of wastewater. Applied limnology and pollutant effects, 2nd edn. Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitton R, Santinelli M, Pidou M, Ometto F, Henderson R, Roddick F, Jarvis P, Villa R, Jefferson B (2018) Tertiary nutrient removal from wastewater by immobilised microalgae: impact of wastewater nutrient characteristics and hydraulic retention time (HRT). H2Open J 1(1):12–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Shen G (2011) Growing duckweed in swine wastewater for nutrient recovery and biomass production. Bioresour Technol 102:848–853

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Wu X, Hao H, He Z (2008) Mechanisms and assessment of water eutrophication. J Zhejiang Univ Sci B 9(3):197–209

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yoon J, Cao X, Zhou Q, Ma LQ (2006) Accumulation of Pb, Cu, and Zn in native plants growing on a contaminated Florida site. Sci Total Environ 368:456–464

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zayed A, Gowthaman S, Terry N (1998) Phytoaccumulation of trace elements by wetland plants: I- Duckweed. J Environ Qual 27:715–721

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler P, Adelmann K, Zimmer S, Schmidt C, Appenroth KJ (2014) Relative in vitro growth rates of duckweeds (Lemnaceae). The most rapidly growing higher plants. Plant Biol 17:33–41

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to fellows of the University of Roma Tre (Dr. Federica Vozzi, Dr. Emanuele Pelella, Dr. Luca Gallitelli) and CNR (Dr. Chiara D’Attilio) for their support during fieldwork, data collection, and experimental procedures. They also thank Domenico Mastroianni of IRSA-CNR for his technical support on anion measurements.

Funding

The Grant to Department of Science, University of Roma Tre (MIUR-Italy Dipartimenti di Eccellenza, ARTICOLO 1, COMMI 314 – 337 LEGGE 232/2016) is gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sciences, University of Roma Tre, Viale G. Marconi 446, 00146, Rome, Italy

    Simona Ceschin & Marco Crescenzi

  2. Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, National Research Council (CNR), Via Salaria Km 29,300, 00015, Monterotondo Scalo, Rome, Italy

    Maria Adelaide Iannelli

Authors
  1. Simona Ceschin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marco Crescenzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Maria Adelaide Iannelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Simona Ceschin: Conceptualization and design, analysis and interpretation of the data, drafting of the article, critical revision of the article for important intellectual content, final approval of the article, and collection and assembly of data.

Marco Crescenzi: Collection and assembly of data, writing-original draft preparation.

Adelaide Iannelli: Analysis and interpretation of the data, drafting of the article, statistical expertise, critical revision of the article for important intellectual content, and final approval of the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simona Ceschin.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

Values of air temperature (Tair, °C) and relative humidity (RH, %) measured on each sampling occasion near the tanks of the outdoor experiment. (XLSX 10.1 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ceschin, S., Crescenzi, M. & Iannelli, M.A. Phytoremediation potential of the duckweeds Lemna minuta and Lemna minor to remove nutrients from treated waters. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 15806–15814 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08045-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08045-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation

-