Copper tolerance in clones of Agrostis gigantea from a mine waste site

A mine waste site from Sudbury, Ontario, contaminated with heavy metals is described. The dominant vegetative cover was formed by two grasses: Agrostis gigantea Roth, and Agrostis scabra Willd. Testing of 10 clones of A. gigantea from the roast bed and an adjoining area for copper tolerance showed that two clones collected from the roast bed were tolerant to increased copper levels. Copper tolerance was found in clones growing on soils with high copper contents and low pHs. The combination of high copper content and low pH brought about a high level of extractable copper within the soil. Soils with equally high copper levels but higher pHs and therefore low extractable-copper levels did not support copper-tolerant clones.

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The effects of soil factors on the distribution of Agrostis gigantea on a mine waste site

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b77-121 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 55 (8) ◽

pp. 1038-1042 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Gary D. Hogan ◽

Gerald M. Courtin ◽

Wilfried E. Rauser

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Avena Sativa ◽

Mine Waste ◽

Selective Advantage ◽

Copper Tolerance ◽

Waste Site ◽

Soil Factors ◽

Extractable Metals ◽

Water Extractable

A number of soils were examined from areas of a mine waste contaminated with heavy metals. Soils from areas vegetated with Agrostis gigantea Roth, which did not possess copper tolerance were compared with adjacent barren areas. Soils from sites which supported non-tolerant grasses had higher pHs and were lower in water-extractable metals than soils from non-vegetated areas. The soils did not differ with respect to any other factor examined. The non-vegetated soils were shown to be more toxic to the growth of Avena sativa than vegetated soils. The establishment and survival of grasses not having the selective advantage of copper tolerance were found to be restricted to the less toxic regions of the study site.

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Copper requirement of a copper-tolerant isolate of Scenedesmus and the effect of copper depletion on tolerance

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b81-242 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 59 (10) ◽

pp. 1817-1823 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

P. M. Stokes ◽

S. I. Dreier

Keyword(s):

Copper Tolerance ◽

Complete Medium ◽

Tolerance Mechanisms ◽

Zinc Tolerance ◽

Original State ◽

High Copper ◽

Tolerance To Cadmium ◽

Effect Of Copper ◽

Copper Depletion ◽

Copper Tolerant

A copper-tolerant isolate of Scenedesmus from Sudbury, Ontario, cultured in medium completely lacking copper, lost its ability to grow at high copper concentrations after 10 generations. The change was sudden in onset and relatively rapid. The algae had previously been maintained on medium with micronutrient levels of copper and had retained their tolerance over 7 years of laboratory culture.The tolerance of the copper depleted cells to nickel and cobalt also decreased. Their tolerance to cadmium and silver was unchanged by copper depletion. The situation for zinc tolerance was less clear, but there was no significant decrease over the range tested.When copper-depleted cells were cultured in complete medium with micronutrient levels of copper, copper tolerance increased after four divisions and recovered to the original state after eight divisions. Plate assays indicated that all of the cells in the culture were recovering i.e., this was not a reselection of a few tolerant cells.The results are discussed in terms of possible tolerance mechanisms, and their implications for the occurrence of multiple or cotolerance.

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Comparative studies on the seedling copper tolerance of various hexaploid wheat varieties and of spelt in soil with a high copper content and in hydroponic culture

Acta Agronomica Hungarica ◽

10.1556/aagr.51.2003.2.8 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 199-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

A. F. Bálint ◽

G. Kovács ◽

J. Sutka

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metal ◽

Copper Content ◽

Metal Tolerance ◽

Heavy Metal Tolerance ◽

Hydroponic Culture ◽

Copper Tolerance ◽

High Copper ◽

High Copper Content ◽

Hydroponic Cultures ◽

Physiological Tests

On areas used for agriculture copper toxicity is one of the most important forms of heavy metal pollution, especially where field crops are to be grown in fields previously used as orchards or vineyards, treated for a long period with pesticides containing copper. Only varieties with good tolerance of soil with a high copper content should be grown on such areas. The selection of copper-tolerant varieties is complicated, however, by the fact that it is difficult to study copper tolerance under field conditions. Heavy metal tolerance is generally tested in hydroponic cultures, in which interfering factors can be minimised, but it is impossible to test a large number of genotypes or segregating generations using this method. Another problem in such experiments is that the conditions existing in hydroponic cultures bear little resemblance to those found in the field, so little information is obtained on the real adaptation of the varieties. The aim of the present experiments was thus to elaborate a soil-based technique suitable for determining the copper tolerance of various genotypes and allowing the simultaneous testing of a large number of genotypes under conditions approaching those found in the field. The results indicate that the copper tolerance of seedlings can be determined by growing them to an age of 2 weeks in soil containing 1000-1500 mg/kg CuSO4 × 5 H2O, since genetic differences in copper tolerance could be clearly distinguished under these conditions. The copper tolerance of plants grown in copper-containing soil exhibited a close correlation with the results obtained in physiological tests in hydroponic culture.

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