A pot experiment was carried out to study the effect of growth-promoting hormone diethyl aminoethyl hexanoate (DA-6) on Cd phytoextraction and detoxification in ryegrass. Foliar spray of DA-6 significantly enhanced Cd extraction efficiency (P<0.05), with 1 μM DA-6 the most effective. At the subcellular level, 43-53% of Cd was soluble fraction and 23-46% in cell wall, and 9-25% in organelles. Chemical speciation analysis showed that 52.7-58.5% of Cd was NaCl extractable, 12.1-22.7% ethanol extractable, followed by other fractions. DA-6 alleviated metal toxicity by fixing more Cd in cell wall and decreasing Cd migration in plant. In conclusion, ryegrass tolerates Cd by cell wall compartmentalization along with protein and organic acids combination, and the treatment of 1 μM DA-6 appears to be optimal for enhancing the remediation efficiency of ryegrass for Cd contaminated soil.
Keywords: Cd extraction; DA-6; detoxification mechanism; ryegrass.