BOOBOOKK of ABSTRAABSTRACTCTCTCT Third International Conference on Plants & Environmental Pollution (ICPEP-3) 29 November œ 2 December 2005, Lucknow (India) Organised by International Society of Environmental Botanists & National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow (India) PREFACE Our environment has always been under natural stresses but its degradation was not as severe as it is today. The importance of the study of environmental hazards and their impact on living beings needs no emphasis. The effect of environmental pollution on vegetation is astounding. As a sequel to the current popular trend of plant biology research synchronized with studies of phenomena in relation to environmental stress, an enormous body of knowledge about the plant- pollution relationship has been generated. This treatise —ABSTRACT BOOK‘ is a compilation of four hundred and six abstracts on different environmental aspects, from renowned scientists having long working experience in their corresponding field of expertise. The volume elucidates the plant-pollutant relationship in a manner that defines not only the drastic effects of pollutants on plants but concomitantly highlights the hitherto less focused areas namely phytotoxicity, phytoremediation and stress tolerant bioaesthetic development, thus concentrating more on plant than the pollutant. The abstracts included in this volume are those, which were received within prescribed date and found suitable for publication. All abstracts were peer-reviewed for acceptance and then partitioned in different sessions for Oral and Poster presentation. Many abstracts were not in desired formats as well as were long. Abridgement of such abstracts has been done with care to include significant points. Late abstracts have been printed but un-indexed and are appended. The basic purpose of this abstract book is to evaluate, identify the knowledge gaps and provide direction for future research areas of environmental problems and consequent changes and to develop desired management protocols. We express our deep sense of gratitude to Dr. P. Pushpangadan, Director NBRI, for his moral and material support. We thank Drs., B.P. Singh, K.J. Ahmad, S.C. Sharma, P. Chandra and H.M. Behl for their encouragement and valuable expertise suggestions to structure this book. We are indebted to our contributors who despite their various commitments acceded to our request to share their valuable expertise. Thanks are due to Mr. D.B. Shukla, Mr. C.P. Jithendriyan, Mrs. Aparna Chakraborty, Ms. Sarah Jamil, Ms. Seema Mishra, Mr. Sudhakar Srivastava and Mr. Vijay Yadav, for their cooperation in various ways. We are also thankful to the various sponsoring agencies for financial support, which made this publication successful. The publication plan finally crystallized through the efforts of M/S Maruti Scanners and their team, we sincerely thank all these people. - Publication Committee ICPEP-3 ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ ♣♣♣ CONTENTS Session I Bioindication and Bioremediation 2 Session II Environment and Biodiversity 23 Session III Environmental Education, Mass awareness & Legislation 37 Session IV Environmental Impact Assessment 41 Session V Environmental Biotechnology 51 Session VI Environmental Issues 63 Session VII Plant Response to Environmental Pollution 95 Session VII Climate Change œ Plant Productivity and Food Security 127 Late Abstracts 133 Author Index 137 ICPEP-3 International Advisory Committee 145 Publication Committee 146 A B S T R A C T 1 SESSION-I BIOINDICATION and BIOREMEDIATION A B S T R A C T 3 SI/L-1 A Review of the Role of Macrophytes in Nu- catalyses the turnover of GS-conjugates to glutamylcysteinyl-conju- trient Removal using Constructed Wetlands gates by removing the carboxylterminal glycine. The glutamylcysteinyl- conjugate formation of herbicides has been disclosed in the pioneer- Margaret Greenway ing work of Gerald L. Lamoureux and identified as being part of a School of Environmental Engineering, Griffith University, Nathan, catabolic pathway that is characteristic for plants. Our studies with Queensland 4111, AUSTRALIA, Email: [email protected] PCS-knockout lines of Arabidopsis unequivocally reveal that PCS constitutes the major activity for glutamylcysteinyl-conjugate forma- There are basically two types of constructed wetlands - Free Water tion. Thus, PCS appear to fulfil a second function in plants, not only in Surface Systems (FWS) and Subsurface Flow Systems (SSF). FWS heavy metal detoxification but also in the detoxification pathway of wetlands are composed of shallow (20-50 cm) vegetated channels GS-conjugates. or basins and deeper (50 cm - 2 m) open-water ponds. SSF wetlands, also known as reed-bed or root-zone wastewater treatment sys- Key words: Glutathione, phytochelatin, herbicide, phytochelatin syn- tems, are gravel and/or soil/sand-filled trenches, channels or basins thase with no standing water, and support emergent vegetation. FWS sys- tems are more suitable in subtropical/tropical conditions where year- SI/L-3 Bioremediation for Heavy Metals through round plant growth occurs. SSF systems are most prevalent temper- Symbiosis between Leguminous Plants and ate regions. The effectiveness of water-quality improvement is de- Rhizobia pendent upon an array of complex and interacting processes, which 1 1 2 can broadly be classified in three categories - physical, biological and Yoshikatsu Murooka *, Akiko Ike , Rutchadaporn Sriprang and Mitsuo Yamashita1 chemical. Most processes are facilitated by the wetland vegetation. 1 The wetland plants referred to as macrophytes in constructed wet- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita-shi, Osaka 565-0871, JAPAN, Email: land technology, remove soluble inorganic nutrients. However the 2 interaction between macrophytes and microbes is essential for nitro- [email protected]; BIOTEC Center for Genetic Engi- gen removal. In aerobic microenvironments around the rhizosphere, neering and Biotechnology, National Science and Technology Devel- nitrification of ammonium occurs. These nitrates can then be taken up opment Agency, 113 Phaholyothin Rd., Klong 1, Klong Luang, directly by the roots. The dead organic matter of macrophytes pro- Pathumthani, 12120, THAILAND vides a carbon source for denitrifying bacteria. The macrophytes Accumulation of heavy metals, such as As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn, either directly or indirectly play an important role in nutrient removal is harmful to living organisms in contact with the soil and groundwater. and storage. The removal of soluble inorganic nitrogen and phospho- Cadmium contamination in rice grains is one of the important issues in rus via absorption from either the water column or the sediment, Asian countries. A novel bioremediation system, “symbiotic engineer- assimilation and storage in plant tissue is a direct mechanism of nutri- ing”, using symbiosis between leguminous plants and rhizobia was ent sequestration. The provision of plant surfaces (leaves, stems and developed. roots) for attached microbiota, epiphytic microflora and associated biofilm communities enables microbial assimilation, transformation and We synthesized the tetrameric metallothionein gene (MTL4, Murooka storage of nutrients. et al., Biocatalysis Biotransformation, 19: 399-412, 2001) and cDNA encoding the phytochelatin synthase gene (AtPCS) from Arabidopsis. Key words: Biomass, constructed wetlands, macrophytes, nutri- The MTL4 and AtPCS genes were fused to the nifH promoter, which ents generated nodule-specific expression of these genes in SI/L-2 Detoxification of Heavy Metal Ions and Or- Mesorhizobium huakuii subsp. rengei B3, which can infect and form nodules on Chinese milk vetch, Astragalus sinicus (Sriprang et al. ganic Xenobiotics in Plants Appl. Environ. Microbiol 69: 1791-1796). Klaus Lendzian, Andreas Beck, Ralph Blum, Jana By the expression of the AtPCS gene, phytochelatin [(g-Glu-Cys)n- Wünschmann and Erwin Grill* Gly ; PCs] was formed in M. huakuii subsp. rengei strain B3 and Technical University of Munich, Centre of Scientific Research increased the ability of cells to bind Cd2+ by 9- to 19-fold approximately. Weihenstephan, Department of Bioscience, Institute of Botany, Am When recombinant strain B3 established the symbiotic relationship Hochanger 4, 85350 Weihenstephan, GERMANY, Email: with Astragalus sinicus, the symbionts increased Cd2+ accumulation [email protected] in root nodules by 1.5-fold. The expression of the both MTL4 and Plants can face a number of foreign (xenobiotic) compounds during AtPCS genes showed additive effect on cadmium accumulation in their life. These xenobiotics include ions of heavy metals such as nodules. Furthermore, we expressed the AtPCS gene and iron-regu- lead, cadmium or copper (beyond the physiological relevance), as lated transporter (IRT1) in strain B3 to stimulate the uptake of cadmium well as toxins of microorganisms and agrochemicals. A central role in into the nodules. The expression of both the AtPCS and IRT1 genes in 2+ the plant responses towards these challenges plays the tripeptide recombinant strain B3 increased the ability of cells to bind Cd 1.7 to glutathione (GSH) by (i) combating metal ions-induced oxidative reac- 2.5-fold compared to cells expressing only AtPCS. In rice paddy soil, tions, (ii) binding heavy-metals via GSH-derived phytochelatins (PCs) addition of recombinant strain B3 significantly increased the accumu- which render the toxic ions largely physiologically