The phytoremediator capacity of Quercus cerris L. against heavy metals contamination in the Ezer forest, Lebanon

Najib, Rola; Houri, Tarek; Khairallah, Yara; Khalil, Mahmoud I.

doi:10.2478/fsmu-2024-0007

Figures & Tables

Geographical location of the Ezer forest and distribution of the studied sites; S1: very polluted site, S2: moderate polluted site and Ctrl: control site (Ezilon Maps, 2015; Google Earth, 2024).

Heavy metals concentrations (a): Cd, (b): Cr, (c): Pb, (d): Al in Quercus cerris leaves sampled from polluted and control sites (Significant at: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001).

Heavy metals concentrations (a): Cd, (b): Cr, (c): Pb, (d): Al in soil sampled from polluted and control sites (Significant at: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001).

Variation of the total carbohydrate content in the different sites during the study period (Significant at: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001).

Variation of hydrogen peroxide levels in the three studied areas.

Variation of the total phenolic content in the three selected sites (Significant at: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001).

Antioxidant enzymes activity of Quercus cerris leaves sampled from polluted and control sites; (a): SOD, (b): catalase, (c): ascorbate peroxidase, (d): guaiacol peroxidase and (e): glutathione reductase (Significant at: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001).

Temporal variations of heavy metals concentrations in Quercus cerris leaves and soil samples_

Heavy metals (ppm)	Site/Month	June	July	August	September	October	P-value (temporal variation)^a
[Cd] leaves	Ctrl	0.02±0.00	0.03±0.00	0.07±0.00	0.19±0.04	0.30±0.07	<0.001
	S1	0.23±0.01	0.61±0.02	0.67±0.04	0.75±0.09	0.96±0.01	<0.001
	S2	0.16±0.01	0.52±0.03	0.58±0.02	0.66±0.09	0.78±0.03	<0.001

[Cd] soil	Ctrl	0.16±0.04	0.09±0.07	0.19±0.03	0.77±0.03	0.86±0.03	<0.001
	S1	0.18±0.06	0.62±0.16	0.75±0.04	0.66±0.14	1.07±0.07	<0.001
	S2	0.18±0.01	0.57±0.02	0.63±0.04	0.69±0.15	1.61±0.04	<0.001

[Cr] leaves	Ctrl	0.13±0.01	0.12±0.00	0.13±0.00	0.12±0.01	0.12±0.01	>0.05
	S1	0.12±0.01	0.12±0.01	0.12±0.01	0.12±0.00	0.13±0.00	>0.05
	S2	0.12±0.03	0.12±0.00	0.12±0.00	0.12±0.02	0.13±0.02	>0.05

[Cr] soil	Ctrl	1.26±0.03	1.19±0.10	1.25±0.02	1.23±0.06	1.28±0.00	>0.05
	S1	1.23±0.07	1.18±0.05	1.22±0.01	1.25±0.01	1.25±0.04	>0.05
	S2	1.27±0.01	1.24±0.08	1.2±0.04	1.25±0.02	1.26±0.03	>0.05

[Pb] leaves	Ctrl	6.95±0.53	5.99±0.15	4.85±0.69	10.38±0.35	4.49±0.22	<0.001
	S1	7.74±0.22	7.13±0.25	6.42±0.44	12.35±0.59	7.94±0.64	<0.001
	S2	7.73±0.57	7.97±0.23	7.91±0.88	13.16±0.25	8.40±0.28	<0.001

[Pb] soil	Ctrl	28.76±0.79	41.60±2.45	29.90±1.08	36.51±5.18	33.32±0.87	<0.001
	S1	28.91±0.75	54.11±2.98	46.06±3.34	45.44±1.94	42.50±1.22	<0.001
	S2	43.58±0.44	55.56±3	86.46±2.84	62.33±2.01	42.00±2.97	<0.001

[Al] leaves	Ctrl	0.93±0.07	0.48±0.03	0.83±0.05	0.6±0.03	0.13±0.01	<0.001
	S1	0.94±0.04	1.02±0.03	0.90±0.02	0.83±0.02	1.03±0.02	<0.001
	S2	0.93±0.15	1.05±0.09	0.93±0.03	0.78±0.08	0.86±0.07	0.017

[Al] soil	Ctrl	35.36±0.63	26.87±1.31	26.26±1.48	25.58±0.67	26.63±0.63	<0.001
	S1	34.31±1.98	31.81±0.76	31.82±0.66	35.16±1.26	33.13±0.53	0.006
	S2	36.02±2.16	33.72±2.14	30.45±1.19	32.43±0.68	33.06±1.46	0.007

Temporal variations of enzymatic and nonenzymatic scavenger activities in Quercus cerris leaves_

Biochemical paramenters	Site/Month	June	July	August	September	October	P-value (temporal variation)^a
Carbohydrates (ppm)	Ctrl	283.42 ± 13.71	282.17 ± 17.83	230.37 ± 16.91	193.22 ± 6.83	136.61 ± 15.73	<0.001
	S1	177.91 ± 17.91	140.93 ± 20.05	148.74 ± 18.94	129.97 ± 6.85	120.25 ± 7.59	0.003
	S2	210.50 ± 15.05	166.18 ± 21.18	146.4 ± 17.22	140.98 ± 12.91	124.60 ± 8.74	<0.001

Phenols (ppm)	Ctrl	12.55 ± 0.88	11.74 ± 0.57	10.36 ± 0.39	7.52 ± 0.22	4.37 ± 0.44	<0.001
	S1	11.10 ± 0.90	8.10 ± 0.95	6.89 ± 0.91	3.43 ± 0.16	3.67 ± 0.61	<0.001
	S2	12.05 ± 0.45	9.79 ± 0.41	7.56 ± 0.24	4.96 ± 0.47	4.35 ± 0.27	<0.001

SOD (unit/mg protein)	Ctrl	2.57 ± 0.23	4.47 ± 0.08	4.47 ± 0.25	4.23 ± 0.18	4.95 ± 0.16	<0.001
	S1	3.14 ± 0.21	3.14 ± 0.24	3.86 ± 0.23	3.90 ± 0.24	3.79 ± 0.09	<0.001
	S2	3.59 ± 0.11	3.65 ± 0.11	1.60 ± 0.11	3.95 ± 0.24	2.77 ± 0.02	<0.001

CAT (unit/mg protein)	Ctrl	9.26 ± 0.40	11.65 ± 0.43	23.56 ± 0.34	24.29 ± 0.07	23.69 ± 0.11	<0.001
	S1	23.62 ± 0.34	21.67 ± 0.35	55.73 ± 0.32	30.94 ± 0.36	47.38 ± 0.19	<0.001
	S2	31.73 ± 1.29	35.15 ± 0.76	50.30 ± 0.78	42.24 ± 0.12	43.55 ± 0.13	<0.001

GPX (unit/mg protein)	Ctrl	8.87 ± 0.08	5.51 ± 0.23	7.32 ± 0.15	10.71 ± 0.42	10.10 ± 0.10	<0.001
	S1	9.22 ± 0.05	11.12 ± 0.33	8.66 ± 0.18	15.66 ± 0.66	13.23 ± 0.26	<0.001
	S2	12.37 ± 0.22	11.37 ± 0.21	8.82 ± 0.77	14.39 ± 0.20	12.67 ± 0.194	<0.001

APX (unit/mg protein)	Ctrl	79.56 ± 2.86	116.44 ± 5.40	168.88 ± 7.74	217.73 ± 5.78	345.33 ± 9.57	<0.001
	S1	118.55 ± 2.07	125.91 ± 6.78	310.49 ± 11.19	343.11 ± 8.66	577.72 ± 4.27	<0.001
	S2	149.00 ± 3.75	147.89 ± 7.23	226.80 ± 5.27	345.89 ± 9.02	554.62 ± 2.77	<0.001

GR (unit/mg protein)	Ctrl	65.68 ± 5.17	30.56 ± 0.96	39.90 ± 3.91	38.43 ± 5.83	43.70 ± 2.21	<0.001
	S1	74.73 ± 4.40	41.55 ± 3.63	74.58 ± 9.22	47.91 ± 1.93	81.96 ± 0.59	<0.001
	S2	122.16 ± 8.01	70.15 ± 13.33	48.64 ± 6.80	76.24 ± 5.02	73.55 ± 1.77	<0.001

The phytoremediator capacity of Quercus cerris L. against heavy metals contamination in the Ezer forest, Lebanon

Figures & Tables

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Temporal variations of heavy metals concentrations in Quercus cerris leaves and soil samples_

Temporal variations of enzymatic and nonenzymatic scavenger activities in Quercus cerris leaves_

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