Heavy metal tolerance in metal hyperaccumulator plant, Salvinia natans

Metal tolerance capacity of Salvinia natans, a metal hyperaccumulator, was evaluated. Plants were exposed to 10, 30 and 50 mg L⁻¹ of Zn, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Cu, Pb, and Ni. Plant biomass, photosynthetic efficiency, quantum yield, photochemical quenching, electron transport rate and elemental (%C, H and N) constitution remained unaffected in Salvinia exposed to 30 mg L⁻¹ of heavy metals, except for Cu and Zn exposed plants, where significant reductions were noted in some of the measured parameters. However, a significant decline was noted in most of the measured parameters in plants exposed to 50 mg L⁻¹ of metal concentration. Results suggest that Salvinia has fairly high levels of tolerance to all the metals tested, but the level of tolerance varied from metal to metal.