Inoculation with the pH Lowering Plant Growth Promoting Bacterium Bacillus sp. ZV6 Enhances Ni Phytoextraction by Salix alba from a Ni-Polluted Soil Receiving Effluents from Ni Electroplating Industry

Zaheer Abbas Virk, Dunia A. Al Farraj, Muhammad Iqbal, Karolina Lewińska and Sabir Hussain
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Zaheer Abbas Virk: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Dunia A. Al Farraj: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad Iqbal: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Karolina Lewińska: Department of Soil Science and Remote Sensing of Soils, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, ul. Krygowskiego 10, 61-680 Poznań, Poland
Sabir Hussain: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Soil contamination with Ni poses serious ecological risks to the environment. Several members of the Salix genus have the ability to accumulate high concentrations of Ni in their aerial parts, and thus can be used for the remediation of Ni-contaminated soils. Interestingly, the efficacy of Ni phytoextraction by Salix may be improved by the acidification of rhizosphere with rhizosphere acidifying bacterial strains. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of bacterial strain Bacillus sp. ZV6 in the presence of animal manure (AM) and leaf manure (LM) for enhancing the bioavailability of Ni in the rhizosphere of Salix alba via reducing the pH of rhizosphere and resultantly, enhanced phytoextraction of Ni. Inoculation of Ni-contaminated soil with strain ZV6 significantly increased plant growth as well as Ni uptake by alba . It was found that the addition of AM and LM resulted into a significant increase in plant growth and Ni uptake by alba in Ni-contaminated soil inoculated with ZV6 stain. However, the highest improvements in diethylene triamine penta-acetic acid (DTPA) extractable Ni (10%), Ni removal from soil (54%), Ni bioconcentration factor (26%) and Ni translocation factor (13%) were detected in the soil inoculated with ZV6 along with the addition of LM, compared to control. Similarly, the enhancements in microbial biomass (92%), bacterial count (348%), organic carbon (organic C) (57%) and various enzymatic activities such as urease (56%), dehydrogenase (32%), β-glucosidase (53%), peroxidase (26%) and acid phosphatase (38%) were also significantly higher in the soil inoculated with ZV6 along with the addition of LM. The findings of this study suggest that the inoculation of Ni-contaminated soils with rhizosphere acidifying bacteria can effectively improve Ni phytoextraction and, in parallel, enhance soil health.

Keywords: acidification; rhizosphere; phytoextraction; bioavailability; bacteria; enzymes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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