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

Rola Najib

Rola Najib

Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biological SciencesDebbieh Campus, Lebanon
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Najib, Rola
, 
Tarek Houri

Tarek Houri

Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biological SciencesTripoli Campus, Lebanon
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Houri, Tarek
, 
Yara Khairallah

Yara Khairallah

Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, Department of Soil, Plants and FertilizersFanar, Lebanon
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Khairallah, Yara
 and 
Mahmoud I. Khalil

Mahmoud I. Khalil

  • Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biological SciencesDebbieh Campus, Lebanon
  • Molecular Biology Unit, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria UniversityEgypt
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Khalil, Mahmoud I.
  
Dec 31, 2024
The phytoremediator capacity of Quercus cerris L. against heavy metals contamination in the Ezer forest, Lebanon's Cover Image
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Article Category: Research paper
Published Online: Dec 31, 2024
Page range: 110 - 126
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fsmu-2024-0007
Keywords
© 2024 Rola Najib et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1.

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).
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).

Figure 2.

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 Quercus cerris leaves sampled from polluted and control sites (Significant at: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001).

Figure 3.

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).
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).

Figure 4.

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

Figure 5.

Variation of hydrogen peroxide levels in the three studied areas.
Variation of hydrogen peroxide levels in the three studied areas.

Figure 6.

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

Figure 7.

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).
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
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