Specificity of Heavy Metal Accumulation in Two Annual Halophytes (Amaranthaceae) with Different Mechanisms of Salt Accumulation under Natural Conditions

The accumulation features of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Fe, Ni, Mn, Cd, Co, and Pb) have been studied in two annual halophytes, Sedobassia sedoides and Atriplex tatarica, growing naturally in contaminated soils (exceeding maximum permissible concentration (MPC) values for Zn, Cd, Ni, and Cu). The ability to accumulate heavy metals from the soil, evaluated as the ratio of metal concentration in the root to soil metal concentration (bioaccumulation factor (BF)), is high and similar for both species, except for Ni and Cd. High values of BF and translocation factor (TF) of Ni (ability to translocate the metal from the root to the shoot), as well as the positive correlation of translocation degree with the rate of Ni bioaccumulation in A. tatarica, make this species promising for soil phytostabilization. S. sedoides shows higher efficiency in the accumulation and translocation of Cd, as well as resistance to high/toxic concentrations of Cd in shoots, which makes this species promising for the phytoremediation of Cd from soil. Both plant species demonstrate the ability to accumulate Cu, Mn, and Fe in toxic concentrations.