Abstract

Phytoremediation is becoming a potential methodfor remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil. The aim ofthis study is to discuss whether the sorrel absorbs copper (Cu)from the soil, and whether arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi（AMF） inoculation enhances its capacity of Cu uptake. Theexperiment was conducted in plastic pots with three treatments:control, 600 mg/kg Cu, and 600 mg/kg Cu plus 10 g AMF. Theresults showed that the sorrel accumulated Cu when planted inCu contaminated soil. Furthermore, the more uptake Cu, themore nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) was absorbed. When thesorrel was under copper stress, its peroxidase (POD) andcatalase (CAT) activities increased, while superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity decreased compared with the control.Chlorophyll (Chl) content decreased under copper stress, but nosignificant differences were observed in malondialdehyde (MDA)content. Although Cu stress inhibited the activity of soil urease,it didn’t affect activities of soil cellulose, soil sucrase, and soilcatalase. It also showed that AMF inoculation promoted thegrowth of sorrel, enhanced the capacity of Cu, N, P, andpotassium (K) uptake, but it didn’t affect MDA and Chl content,POD activity , and CAT activities of sorrel. However, SODactivity was inhibited a little bit. The results also showed thatAMF enhanced the activity of soil urease, inhibited activities ofsoil cellulose and soil sucrase. But it didn’t influence the activityof soil CAT. It concluded that this sorrel was a Cu accumulatingplant and AMF inoculation improved its capacity of Cu uptake.