Influence of Diethylene Triamine Penta Acetic Acid (DTPA) amendment on the uptake of some essential trace elements by <I>Amaranthus hybridus L.</I>

Abstract

The present study was aimed at determining the potential in the uptake and translocation of essential trace elements by Amaranthus hybridus L. seedlings and the effects of added 0.0025M DTPA as a bioremediation technology to increase the contents of trace elements in edible parts. Four week old Amaranthus hybridus L. seedlings were transplanted in hydroponic solution treated with copper and zinc and then monitored in a greenhouse for 72 hr where significant changes in fresh weights were observed. The study was divided into two experiments first batch contains chelate and second batch contain unchelated treatments in three different combination of copper, zinc and Cu/Zn treatments. Cu²⁺ was restricted in the roots and no significant changes (p>0.05) in the accumulation of Cu²⁺ was observed with respect to addition of DTPA to different concentration compared to unchelated treatments. However, accumulation and transportation of Zn²⁺ from roots to shoots was increased significantly (p<0.05) to 2-3 fold after DTPA application compared to unchelated treatments as it helped to increase the metal bioavailability. Furthermore, in Cu/Zn combination, unchelated Cu²⁺ was found to accumulate more when compared to the chelated with the same Cu²⁺ concentration. Likewise, unchelated Zn²⁺ was significantly translocated as compared with chelate-assisted treatments of same zinc concentration. This indicates that in the presence of copper, zinc uptake was favorably translocated. Translocation factor was calculated to find relation with metal uptake in Amaranth hybridus L. seedlings.

Keywords: Essential elements, DTPA amendment, hydroponic, Amaranthus hybridus L.