Absorption and Oxidation of Arsenite by Pteris vittata Roots and Its Kinetics

In this paper, hydroponic experiment was employed to study the absorption and oxidation of arsenite by Pteris vittata roots segment. The results showed that arsenite could be oxidized to arsenate by Pteris vittatas roots in a short time. The maximum percentage of arsenite oxidized to arsenate was obtained from different concentration of arsenite culture solution within 8h. The absorption ability of arsenite by Petris vittata roots cultured in low concentration arsenite solution was higher than that in high concentration arsenite solution. According to the modified Michaelis-Menten equation, Vmax and Km were calculated by using Line-weaver-Burk illustration method from the 10 mg·L-1 arsenite experimental data, which were (0.183 ± 0.006) mg·h-1·g-1 and (2.590 ± 0.080) mg·L-1 respectively.