Three new arsenic hyperaccumulating ferns

Phytoremediation, an emerging, plant-based technology for the removal of toxic contaminants from soil and water, has been receiving increased attention. The prerequisite for successful phytoremediation is the existence of hyperaccumulator plants. Designed to search for new arsenic (As) hyperaccumulators, an experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions in a completely randomized design with four replications. This experiment identified Pteris biaurita L., P. quadriaurita Retz and P. ryukyuensis Tagawa as new hyperaccumulators of As and re-confirmed Pteris cretica as a hyperaccumulator. The average As concentration ranged from 1770 to 3650 mg kg−1 DW in the fronds and 182 to 507 mg kg−1 DW in the roots of P. cretica, P. biaurita, P. quadriaurita and P. ryukyuensis after having been grown in 100 mg As kg−1 soil. There was a greater percentage of As (III) as compared to As (V) in the fronds of these plants. Based on our study, P. ryukyuensis is the most promising candidate to phytoremediate As contaminated soils compared to the other three species. The nutrient requirements or distributions within the Pteris species were altered distinctly when the plants were exposed to As.