Studies on hyperaccumulation of Mercury by Jussiaea repens under laboratory condition

Phytoremediation ability of plants has been a well known fact in the field of environmental toxicology. The present investigation reports the hyperaccumulating ability of aquatic plant Jussiaea repens under laboratory condition. Initiation of growth of roots of the plants in mercury contaminated water is a good morphological indication of the utilization of the mercury salt by the plant for its growth. To test the purifying potentiality of Jussiaea repens, mercury contaminated water and treated mercury contaminated water with Jussiaea repens were separately checked by in vitro pollen grain germination test. It was found that Jussiaea treated mercury-contaminated water significantly gives the higher percentage of pollen grain germination in comparison to pure mercury-contaminated water of the same concentration. Hence, Jussiaea repens can be effectively utilized for detoxification of heavy metals.