ROLE OF DIFFERENT TAXA AND CYTOTYPES IN HEAVY METALS ABSORPTION IN KNOTWEEDS (FALLOPIA)

The invasiveness of non-native plants is determined by several characteristics. One of them is the ability to grow in conditions that are limiting for other plant species. In the study we compared three highly invasive plant taxa of the genus: Fallopia japonica var. japonica (2n = 88), F. sachalinensis (2n = 44), and their hybrid F. × bohemica (2n = 66) regarding their growth ability at localities with high content of Cd, Pb, and Fe in the soil and regarding their ability to take up the heavy metals into their tissues. The plant material was collected from contaminated sites. Concentration of particular heavy metals was measured in rhizomes, roots, and leaves. The aim of the study is to analyze the response of plants to this pollution and ability to accumulate metal in different tissues. The taxa do not differ in metal uptake, but a marginal difference in uptake of Pb was found between ploidy levels. In all taxa and ploidy levels the heavy metals were accumulated significantly more in roots and rhizomes. High concentrations of Cd were found in roots and rhizomes of all taxa. This result suggests a specific ability of Fallopia to take up heavy metals and a great phytoremediation potential