Azolla pinnata

Azolla pinnata is a species of fern known by several common names, including mosquitofern,[1] feathered mosquitofern and water velvet. It is native to much of Africa, Asia (Brunei Darussalam, China, India, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines) and parts of Australia. It is an aquatic plant, it is found floating upon the surface of the water. It grows in quiet and slow-moving water bodies, because swift currents and waves break up the plant.[2] At maximum growth rate, it can double its biomass in 1.9 days, with most strains attaining such growth within a week under optimal conditions.[3]

Azolla pinnata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Salviniales
Family: Salviniaceae
Genus: Azolla
Species:
A. pinnata
Binomial name
Azolla pinnata

A. pinnata is a small fern with a triangular frond measuring up to 2.5 centimeters in length which floats on the water. The frond is made up of many rounded or angular overlapping leaves each 1 or 2 millimeters long. They are green, blue-green, or dark red in color and coated in tiny hairs, giving them a velvety appearance.[2] The hairs make the top surface of the leaf water-repellent, keeping the plant afloat even after being pushed under.[2] A water body may be coated in a dense layer of the plants, which form a velvety mat that crowds out other plants.[2] The hairlike roots extend out into the water.[2] The leaves contain the cyanobacterium Anabaena azollae, which is a symbiont that fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere that the fern can use.[2][4] This gives the fern the ability to grow in habitats that are low in nitrogen.[4]

The plant reproduces vegetatively when branches break off the main axis, or sexually when sporocarps on the leaves release spores.[5]

It is present in New Zealand as an introduced species and an invasive weed that has crowded out a native relative, Azolla rubra.[2] It is a pest of waterways because its dense mats reduce oxygen in the water.[6] The weevil Stenopelmus rufinasus is used as an agent of biological pest control to manage Azolla filiculoides, and it has been found to attack A. pinnata as well.[7]

Rice farmers sometimes keep this plant in their paddies because it generates valuable nitrogen via its symbiotic cyanobacteria.[2][5] The plant can be grown in wet soil and then plowed under, generating a good amount of nitrogen-rich fertilizer.[8] The plant has the ability to absorb a certain amount of heavy metal pollution, such as lead, from contaminated water.[9] It is 25-30% protein and can be added to chicken feed.[10][11]

Applications in environmental studies

Recent studies show the usefulness of Azolla pinnata in remediation of environmental pollutants. There are two main methods for utilising A. pinnata to clean up environmental pollutants. The first method is by adsorption, which required the A. pinnata fronds to be processed into powder and agitated with the wastewater for a fixed duration. The pollutant will adhere to the organic functional groups on the surface of the A. pinnata powder. In adsorption studies, A. pinnata was reported in the remediation of dye wastewater containing methyl violet 2B,[12] malachite green,[13] rhodamine B,[14] acid red 88[15] and acid blue 25.[16]

The second remediation method is phytoremediation, where living A. pinnata is suspended on the surface of the wastewater. A. pinnata was primarily studied due to its high tolerance to environmental pollutants, and ability to hyperaccumulate heavy metals.[17] Phytoremediation of industrial wastewater containing heavy metals (such as zinc, lead,[18] ,chromium,[19] mercury, cadmium,[20] copper, arsenic[17]) as well as organic dyes such as methyl violet 2B [21] and malachite green[22] are reported in literature. A.pinnata is also reported to be useful for treating of wastewater (remove nitrogenous waste and phosphorus) of poultry farm.[23]

References
  1. English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. 2015. p. 371. ISBN 978-89-97450-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017 – via Korea Forest Service.
  2. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk
  3. Watanabe, Iwao; Berja, Nilda S. (1983). "The growth of four species of Azolla as affected by temperature". Aquatic Botany. 15 (2): 175–185. doi:10.1016/0304-3770(83)90027-x. ISSN 0304-3770.
  4. Sood, A., et al. (2005). Indicators of phosphorus deficiency in Azolla pinnata (Salviniales, Pteridophyta). Acta Botanica Hungarica 47:1-2 197.
  5. Azolla pinnata. Nonindigenous Aquatic Species. USGS
  6. Azolla pinnata. Archived July 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Idaho Agriculture.
  7. Pemberton, R. W. and J. M. Bodle. (2009). Native North American Azolla Weevil, Stenopelmus rufinasus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), uses the invasive old world Azolla pinnata as a host plant. Florida Entomologist 92:1 153.
  8. Kaur, H. Biomass production of Azolla pinnata R. Br. in contaminated soils of Punjab (India).
  9. Jain, S. K. (1990).Azolla pinnata R.Br. and Lemna minor L. for removal of lead and zinc from polluted water. Water Research 24:2 177-83.
  10. Basak, B., et al. (2002). Azolla (Azolla pinnata) as a feed ingredient in broiler ration. Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine International Journal of Poultry Science 1:1 29.
  11. Alalade, O. A. and E. A. Iyayi. (2006). Chemical composition and the feeding value of azolla (Azolla pinnata) meal for egg-type chicks. International Journal of Poultry Science 5:2 137.
  12. Kooh, Muhammad Raziq Rahimi; Lim, Linda B. L.; Dahri, Muhammad Khairud; Lim, Lee Hoon; Bandara, J. M. R. Sarath (2015-04-03). "Azolla pinnata: An Efficient Low Cost Material for Removal of Methyl Violet 2B by Using Adsorption Method". Waste and Biomass Valorization. 6 (4): 547–559. doi:10.1007/s12649-015-9369-0. ISSN 1877-2641. S2CID 94925716.
  13. Kooh, Muhammad Raziq Rahimi; Lim, Linda B. L.; Lim, Lee Hoon; Bandara, J. M. R. S. (2016-07-02). "Batch adsorption studies on the removal of malachite green from water by chemically modified Azolla pinnata". Desalination and Water Treatment. 57 (31): 14632–14646. doi:10.1080/19443994.2015.1065450. ISSN 1944-3994.
  14. Kooh, Muhammad Raziq Rahimi; Lim, Linda B. L.; Lim, Lee Hoon; Dahri, Muhammad Khairud (2016-01-21). "Separation of toxic rhodamine B from aqueous solution using an efficient low-cost material, Azolla pinnata, by adsorption method". Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 188 (2): 108. doi:10.1007/s10661-016-5108-7. ISSN 0167-6369. PMID 26797814. S2CID 180735.
  15. "Journal-Archives-Applied Bioengineering". journals-sathyabama.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  16. Kooh, Muhammad Raziq Rahimi; Dahri, Muhammad Khairud; Lim, Linda B. L.; Lim, Lee Hoon (2015-10-26). "Batch Adsorption Studies on the Removal of Acid Blue 25 from Aqueous Solution Using Azolla pinnata and Soya Bean Waste". Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering. 41 (7): 2453–2464. doi:10.1007/s13369-015-1877-5. ISSN 1319-8025. S2CID 101763595.
  17. Sarkar, Amar; Jana, Sasadhar (1986). "Heavy metal pollutant tolerance of Azolla Pinnata". Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 27 (1–2): 15–18. Bibcode:1986WASP...27...15S. doi:10.1007/BF00464765. ISSN 0049-6979. S2CID 97828116.
  18. Jain, S. K.; Vasudevan, P.; Jha, N. K. (1990-02-01). "Azolla pinnata r.br. and lemna minor l. for removal of lead and zinc from polluted water". Water Research. 24 (2): 177–183. doi:10.1016/0043-1354(90)90100-K.
  19. Rai, Prabhat Kumar (2009-11-05). "Microcosm Investigation on Phytoremediation of Cr UsingAzolla Pinnata". International Journal of Phytoremediation. 12 (1): 96–104. doi:10.1080/15226510902767155. ISSN 1522-6514. PMID 20734631. S2CID 46252244.
  20. Rai, Prabhat Kumar (2008-07-23). "Technical Note: Phytoremediation of Hg and Cd from Industrial Effluents using an Aquatic Free Floating Macrophyte Azolla Pinnata". International Journal of Phytoremediation. 10 (5): 430–439. doi:10.1080/15226510802100606. ISSN 1522-6514. PMID 19260224. S2CID 10536104.
  21. R.R., Kooh, Muhammad; B.L., Lim, Linda; H., Lim, Lee; K., Dhari, Muhammad (2016-10-01). "Phytoremediation capability of Azolla pinnata for the removal of malachite green from aqueous solution". Journal of Environment & Biotechnology Research. 5 (1).
  22. Kooh, Muhammad Raziq Rahimi; Dahri, Muhammad Khairud; Lim, Linda B. L.; Lim, Lee Hoon (2015-10-26). "Batch Adsorption Studies on the Removal of Acid Blue 25 from Aqueous Solution Using Azolla pinnata and Soya Bean Waste". Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering. 41 (7): 2453–2464. doi:10.1007/s13369-015-1877-5. ISSN 1319-8025. S2CID 101763595.
  23. "Using Azolla pinnata for wastewater treatment from poultry farm" (PDF).
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