| Summary: | Abstract Heavy metal contamination of aquatic ecosystems is of serious concern and requires an immediate solution. Phytoremediation is a green technology that is used to clean contaminated environments using plants. Salvinia molesta is an aquatic fern that is an excellent option for cleaning up contaminated water. The characteristics that make this plant an excellent option for phytoremediation are high productivity and great metal eliminating potential. Augmenting the phytoremediation potential of the already promising candidate plants would help in removing heavy metal contamination at a faster pace. Even though there are a number of reports proving the phytoremediation potential of Salvinia molesta, there are no studies on the enhancement of phytoremediation potential of this plant using compounds that can be exogenously applied. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of the plant growth regulators (PGRs) Indole Acetic Acid, Gibberellic acid, Kinetin, Benzyl Amino Purine and Salicylic acid and the biostimulants Gallic acid, Humic acid, Potassium silicate and Vanillin on cadmium and lead phytoremediation by Salvinia molesta D. Mitch. Vanillin was found to be the most effective biostimulant for enhancing cadmium accumulation, whereas kinetin was the most effective PGR for doing so in S. molesta. Gallic acid was found to be most effective biostimulant in increasing the accumulation of Pb in S. molesta. However, application of PGR to Pb-stressed plants reduced their efficiency in accumulating Pb.
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