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Lead (Pb) heavy metal pollution in waterways has become one of major issues across the world. A hydroponics experiment was aimed at investigating the physiological and biochemical response and phytoremediation ability of three aquatic floating macrophytes Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes and Ludwigia stolonifera plants grown under different treatments of Pb(CH₃COO)₂. With an increase in lead concentration in growth medium the element's accumulation in plant parts increased and the accumulation of the element increased in the roots more than its accumulation in the shoots for all tested plants. In studying the response of these plants to Pb stress, we observed inhibited plant growth % and decreased photosynthetic pigments, membrane stability index (MSI) and proteins. In addition, heavy metal induced oxidative damage as observed by increased lipid peroxidation (MDA) and electrolyte leakage (EL) levels in all species. Antioxidative enzymes activity such as catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) and proline accumulation were positively correlated with Pb treatment. The plants were ideal for phytoremediation because of their rapid rate of growth, extensive root system, high biomass output, and capacity to accumulate and tolerate Pb.
Ahmed et al. (Sun,) studied this question.