Plant Uptake of Organic Contaminants: Mechanisms and Impacts
by Sara L. Nason, Ph.D, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Plants encounter chemical contaminants from many different sources. Crop plants are directly exposed to any contaminants that are present in the soil and water used to grow them, as well as agrochemicals. Manure and biosolids – additional sources of contaminants – are often used as fertilizer. Therefore, there is potential for crop plants to be exposed to and take up a wide range of chemical contaminants, which could potentially lead to food supply contamination. Non-food plants are sometimes intentionally grown on heavily polluted sites as a way to help break down and remove contaminants – a practice known as phytoremediation. In either of these scenarios, it is important to understand the mechanisms of plant uptake for the contaminants present, and be able to estimate how much contaminant will be taken up and/or degraded by the plants. This seminar will focus on research investigating interactions between plants and organic chemical contaminants including predictive uptake models, uptake mechanisms, and phytoremediation results.
Date: Friday, Feb 7
Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm
Room: WBY 001
About the speaker:
Sara L. Nason, Ph.D, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
https://portal.ct.gov/CAES/ABOUT-CAES/Staff-Biographies/Sara-L-Nason
Join us for pizza!
For more information, contact: PSLA at psla@uconn.edu