A newly-discovered Cd-hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum L.

A systematic investigation was conducted to screen for cadmium-hyperaccumulator from 54 species in 20 weed families using outdoor pot-culture experiment and small-scale field experiment. The results from the outdoor pot-culture experiment showed that Cd concentrations in the stems and leaves of Solanum nigrum L. growing in a soil spiked with 25 mg/kg Cd were up to 103.8 and 124.6 mg/kg (DW), respectively, which was greater than 100 mg/kg, minimum Cd concentration for a Cd-hyperaccumulator. The Cd enrichment factor (EF, concentration ratio in plant to soil) in shoots was as high as 2.68. Moreover, Cd accumulation in shoots was greater than that in roots (TF, concentration ratio in shoots to roots) and the plant biomass growth was not inhibited at the Cd concentrations tested compared with the control. The results of the small-scale field experiment also showed that the characteristics of Cd accumulation in S. nigrum were all consistent with the characteristics of Cd-hyperaccumulators. Thus S. nigrum can be classified as a Cd-hyperaccumulator. This work is important for further research in the areas of hyperaccumulators screening, and plant-tolerance physiology and evolution. It provides a patentable new plant species for phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soils.