Poster: Late and Moved Abstracts

Abs # 1382: Screening of Xenobiotic-Degrading Plants Using Poly R-478.

Presenter:	Sun, Wenhao H, wenhao@hawaii.edu
Authors	Sun, Wenhao H (A)   Tang, Chung-Shih  (A)
Affiliations:	(A): University of Hawaii at Manoa

The ability of thirty-nine native and non-native plants to degrade xenobiotics, such as PCBs and benzo(a)pyrene was assessed based on their ability to decolorize a polymeric aromatic dye, Poly R-478. Four plant species, napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), curly dock (Rumex crispus), ‘ahu’awa (Mariscus javanicus) and ‘akiohala (Hibiscus furcellatus) decolorized the dye by over 50% in hydroponic cultures within four weeks. Curly dock and other 13 plant species showed no decolorization in a sterile agar medium. These results suggest that napier grass, curly dock, ‘ahu’awa and ‘akiohala have the potential to degrade PCBs and benzo(a)pyrene, and rhizospheric microorganisms may facilitate the degradation. Evaluation of the selected plants for PCBs and benzo(a)pyrene degradation is under way. This research is supported by U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Defense through Biosystems Technology Program and Environet, Inc at Honolulu.