Uptake by Cucurbitaceae of Soil-Borne Contaminants Depends upon Plant Genotype and Pollutant Properties

Three Cucurbitaceae, Cucurbita pepo L. subsp. pepo (cv. Black Beauty, true zucchini), Cucurbita pepo L. intersubspecific cross (cv. Zephyr, summer squash), and Cucumis sativis (cv. Marketmore, cucumber), were grown in rhizotrons containing soil contaminated with three classes of highly weathered, hydrophobic organic contaminants: (1) technical chlordane, (2) dichlorodiphenylethanes (DDT and DDD) and -ethene (DDE), (3) polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metal residues. Movement of the contaminants through the soil/plant system was studied by comparing contaminant concentration in the bulk soil, the rhizosphere soil pore water, the xylem sap, and aerial tissue. This permitted, for the first time, calculation of bioconcentration factors (BCFs) based on concentration in the xylem sap versus that in the rhizosphere soil pore water. The bioconcentration factors so determined for the sum of five chlordane residues (two enantiomers of trans-chlordane, TC; two enantiomers of cis-chlordane, CC; and achiral trans-nonachlor, TN) were 36, 40, and 23 for Black Beauty, Zephyr, and Marketmore, respectively. In addition, the xylem sap of each cultivar had a consistent enantioselective profile for some of the chiral chlordane components. For the sum of dichlorodiphenylethanes and -ethene, comparable BCF values were 19, 4, and 0.8, respectively. In the case of PAHs, different BCF patterns among the cultivars were noted for three- versus four-ring compounds. Similarly, movement of heavy metals was cultivar-dependent, with cadmium BCF values 9.5, 3.5, and 0.6 for Black Beauty, Zephyr, and Marketmore, respectively; the analogous BCFs for zinc were 9, 11, and 2. Thus, passage from ex planta to in planta regions of the soil/plant system is dependent not only on properties of the plant, but also on those of the pollutant. Such data will provide insight into transport mechanisms of highly hydrophobic organic contaminants, as well as heavy metal contaminants, in the soil/plant system.