Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) contamination in acidified paddy soils poses a major threat to rice safety and necessitates practical remediation strategies compatible with flooded rice cultivation systems. In this study, a Cd-tolerant microalgal strain, Chlorella sorokiniana T003, was isolated and evaluated for its potential to reduce Cd accumulation in rice through a microalgae-based remediation strategy integrated with swine wastewater utilization. Strain T003 maintained growth at Cd concentrations up to 25 mg L⁻¹ and removed over 90% of dissolved Cd at 5–25 mg L⁻¹, with a removal efficiency of 62% at 50 mg L⁻¹. T003 also showed robust growth in untreated swine wastewater, reaching 1.5 × 10¹¹ cells L⁻¹ after 9 d, supporting its suitability for wastewater-based biomass production. In pot experiments, application of T003 cultivated in swine wastewater increased soil pH from 5.61 to 6.60 and reduced rice shoot Cd concentration by up to 75.9% compared with the alkalized control. Field application similarly increased soil pH from 5.60 to 6.11, reduced exchangeable Cd by 49.7%, and decreased grain Cd concentrations by 72.7% and 98.7% in two rice cultivars, respectively. These findings indicate that C. sorokiniana T003 cultivated in swine wastewater can reduce Cd accumulation in rice under field conditions and may provide a biologically based strategy for Cd mitigation in acidified paddy soils while supporting nutrient recycling in crop–livestock systems.
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Acknowledgements
Great thanks to Mr. Yu Chen, Mr Kai Tan and Fujianping Agricultural Cooperative for their cooperations during the field experiments.
Funding
This study was sponsored by grants from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (32071930), the key Project of Developmental Biology and Breeding from Hunan Province (2000XKQ0203), Project of Hunan Provincial National Nature Science Foundation (2021JJ30445; 2022JJ30421; 2023JJ40429), Project of Changsha Municipal Natural Science Foundation (kq2208164), Scientific Research Foundation of Hunan Provincial Education Department (24B0055), National Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (S202310542047).
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Tan, Y., Yu, G., Xu, H. et al. Swine wastewater-cultivated Chlorella sorokiniana reduces cadmium accumulation in rice grown on contaminated paddy soil.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-53386-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-53386-7
Keywords
- Cadmium bioremediation
Chlorella sorokiniana T003- Swine wastewater
- Rice paddy contamination
- Soil pH neutralization
Source: Ecology - nature.com
