Experiment setup
P. vittata (PV) plants of 6 month old with 5 fronds cultivated in
our lab were used. Efforts were made to ensure that the plants were
uniform and of similar size. The plants were acclimatized in 0.2-
strength Hoagland solution (HS) at pH 5.7 with 1 mM KOH-MES
buffer for 4 weeks. The acclimated plants were transferred to
opaque containers containing 1 L of 0.2-strength S- and P-free HS
spiked with different concentrations of As, Cr and S (Table 1). The
solution was aerated continuously and renewed twice a week
during the experiment. The water loss via transpiration was replenished by frequent additions of deionized water. The plants
were kept in a controlled room with 14-h light period at light intensity
of 350 mmol m2 s
1
, 25 C/20 C day/night temperature and
60e70% relative humidity. Plants were harvested 14 d after the
application of the treatments.