Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Agriculture - Department of Soil Sciences

Three-pot experiments were carried out in the greenhouse of Faculty of Agriculture Cairo University, during the three successive winter seasons (2015-2016 and 2016-2017) to evaluate the potential of flax plants as a Cd tolerant and accumulator from polluted soils. The experiment laid out in a split-plot design in a randomized complete design arrangement with three replications. Surface sandy loam soil samples (0-20 cm) were collected from Abou-Rawash area, which received sewage sludge and sewage effluent for long time (20 years).Three levels of soil Cd, the initial one (3.13), and the two artificial (50 and 75mg kg-1 soil), were prepared using CdCl2 solution by wet and dry process for three months consequently, those represent the main plot. The chemical (EDTA) and biological (AMF and Thiobacillus) treatments were allocated to sub plots. Each sub plot consisted of pots each containing 10kg soil and 100 flax plants. The results showed that by increasing soil cadmium levels, the flax plant (roots, stem and leaves) dry weight significantly decreased. Under different levels of soil Cd, the chemical and biological treatments lead to significant variation in flax plant dry weight. The highest increases in dry weight was recorded with AMF treatment (5.63 and 8.50% in 1st and 2nd seasons, respectively, with an average of 7.06%) compared with the control (initial). However, cadmium contents in the different parts of flax plant increased with increasing soil cadmium levels

Issued also as CD