Lawns and flower are major aesthetical and environmental elements of the urban ecosystem. However, harsh urban conditions such as pollution by heavy metals are unfavorable for plants. For example, copper is toxic for ornamental plants, limiting the spread of lawn grass and flowering plants. Therefore, here the team hypothesized that plants could be adapted to urban conditions by breeding.
The team first showed the possibility of using environmental biotechnology in urban greening to obtain, tolerating copper flowering plants and lawn grasses. The team tested the adaptation of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) and painted daisy (Chrysanthemum carinatum Schousb.) to сopper. The team measured Cu resistance in the next generations of those plant species. Results show that some next generations of plant regenerants have increased resistance up to 100 mg/kg Cu for Agrostis stolonifera, and up to 30 mg/kg for Chrysanthemum carinatum.
The findings thus imply that city plants may be adapted and improved by сell selection. The approach thus represents a novel biotechnology consisting of adapting plants to pollution by сell selection.
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Gladkov, Evgeny & Tashlieva, Ilina & Gladkova, Olga. (2021). Ornamental plants adapted to urban ecosystem pollution: lawn grasses and painted daisy tolerating copper. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 28. 1-6. 10.1007/s11356-020-11423-6.