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Exploring the Physiology of Duckweed: Towards Multi-Purpose Applications
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Exploring the Physiology of Duckweed: Towards Multi-Purpose Applications

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1285

Editor

Dr. Paul Ziegler

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant Physiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
Interests: duckweeds; survival strategies; ecotoxicity testing; phytoremediation; starch physiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The tiny, free-floating duckweeds or water lentils that constitute the family of the Lemnaceae are geographically widespread macrophytes. The attributes that have ensured their success in nature have made them model organisms for investigating ecological, evolutionary, physiological, biochemical and genetic aspects of aquatic higher plant life. Duckweeds are also of practical value because they are established reference organisms in aquatic plant ecotoxicity testing and are promising agents of wastewater phytoremediation. They readily produce biomass useful for energy generation and biosorption, as fertilizer and for the supply of protein-rich feed and food. They are also promising in the biomanufacturing of biopolymers, proteins and vaccines and in the development of self-supporting life systems. Such usages can be complementary; for example, biomass production can result from water remediation.

The various aspects of duckweed life that are the subject of specialized investigation by duckweed researchers are all related to the physiology—the sum of the ongoing biophysical and biochemical processes—of the macrophytes programmed by specific genetic expression and modulated by environmental influences. This physiology is particularly important regarding the activities and biomass of duckweeds utilized in practical applications. Knowledge of the physiology of a usefully employed duckweed is important for understanding the nature of the useful activity. The success of a duckweed in a particular application may be enhanced by improving the physiological processes culminating in the activity or biomass involved by means of techniques such as clonal selection, transformation and appropriate environmental manipulation.

The present Special Issue welcomes both original papers and reviews dealing with the exploration of duckweed physiology with a view to better understanding how duckweeds cope with their environment in conjunction with their performance in practical applications, with improving their practical performance and with—hopefully—developing novel applications. These contributions can accordingly help to both elucidate and promote duckweed utility.

Dr. Paul Ziegler
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • duckweeds (Lemnaceae)
  • model organisms
  • physiology
  • applications
  • ecotoxicology
  • phytoremediation
  • biomass utilization

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 794 KB  
Article
Evaluating Co-Ensiling Strategies to Valorise Duckweed as a Sustainable Feed Ingredient
by Marie Lambert, Eva Wambacq, Reindert Devlamynck, Marcella Fernandes de Souza, Pieter Vermeir, Katleen Raes, Mia Eeckhout and Erik Meers
Plants 2026, 15(12), 1865; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15121865 - 16 Jun 2026
Viewed by 258
Abstract
Duckweed (Lemnaceae) is a promising alternative feed crop, particularly in regions with nutrient surpluses and protein deficits, as it grows efficiently on nutrient-rich agricultural wastewater and provides protein-rich biomass. However, its high moisture content and rapid post-harvest spoilage pose major storage challenges. This [...] Read more.
Duckweed (Lemnaceae) is a promising alternative feed crop, particularly in regions with nutrient surpluses and protein deficits, as it grows efficiently on nutrient-rich agricultural wastewater and provides protein-rich biomass. However, its high moisture content and rapid post-harvest spoilage pose major storage challenges. This study evaluated (co-)ensiling as a cost-effective preservation strategy for duckweed. Three separate experiments were conducted to assess the ensilability of duckweed alone and in combination with various agricultural co-substrates and additives, including corn silage, beet pulp, grass silage, hemp shives, hay, molasses, sun-dried duckweed and CaCO3. Duckweed alone could not be successfully ensiled due to excessive moisture, resulting in poor acidification and high levels of undesirable fermentation products. During the long-term co-ensiling test, a duckweed–corn silage mixture containing 29% fresh duckweed and 71% corn silage showed the most stable fermentation profile, with low pH, limited fermentation losses, and no detectable butyric acid. A duckweed–grass silage mixture containing 51% fresh duckweed and 49% grass silage allowed higher duckweed inclusion and retained the highest level of apparent pepsin-digestible protein after storage, but showed elevated acetic acid and ethanol concentrations. A duckweed–beet pulp mixture containing 74% fresh duckweed and 26% beet pulp enabled the highest duckweed inclusion rate, but showed signs of clostridial fermentation, likely due to excess moisture. Microbiological analysis of this beet pulp mixture showed reduced Enterobacteriaceae after ensiling, but also increased clostridial counts. Oxalic acid concentrations were low in all duckweed-based silages, with the largest reduction observed in the duckweed–grass mixture. Overall, the results show that duckweed co-ensiling is feasible but highly dependent on co-substrate selection and moisture control. Further formulation optimisation is required, particularly for high-duckweed mixtures, to reduce the risk of clostridial fermentation and improve practical applicability as a storable feed ingredient. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Physiology of Duckweed: Towards Multi-Purpose Applications)
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17 pages, 2615 KB  
Article
Temperature-Dependent Clonal and Species-Level Growth Variation in Spirodela, Landoltia, Lemna, and Interspecific Lemna Hybrids
by Iride Mascheretti, Alessandra Mallardi, Claudia Liberatore, Tommaso Martinelli and Massimiliano Lauria
Plants 2026, 15(11), 1649; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15111649 - 27 May 2026
Viewed by 696
Abstract
Duckweeds are minute, fast-growing monocot aquatic plants that propagate clonally and combine high biomass productivity with a valuable biochemical composition (high-quality proteins, a favorable polyunsaturated fatty acid profile, and starch-rich tissues) and efficient nutrient uptake, making them attractive for feed/food, bioenergy, and wastewater-based [...] Read more.
Duckweeds are minute, fast-growing monocot aquatic plants that propagate clonally and combine high biomass productivity with a valuable biochemical composition (high-quality proteins, a favorable polyunsaturated fatty acid profile, and starch-rich tissues) and efficient nutrient uptake, making them attractive for feed/food, bioenergy, and wastewater-based phyto-bioremediation. Temperature is a key factor shaping duckweed growth, and selecting clones that perform well within specific thermal ranges can improve cultivation across different applications. Here, we screened 97 clones from the genera Spirodela, Landoltia, and Lemna, including the hybrids Lemna × japonica and Lemna × mediterranea, under warm (WC; 30/25 °C) and relative cool (CC; 20/16 °C) conditions. Relative growth rate (RGR) ranged from 0.150 to 0.338 day−1 under WC and from 0.113 to 0.318 day−1 under CC, revealing strong interspecific and intraspecific variation. While WC generally promoted higher growth than CC, notable exceptions occurred at both interspecific and intraspecific levels. Tests under more extreme regimes (EWC; 35/30 °C; ECC; 16/12 °C) confirmed strong clone-specific responses, with some clones maintaining or improving growth under EWC relative to WC, whereas ECC generally reduced growth relative to CC. Climatic provenance was a weak predictor of performance, showing limited correspondence between RGR and mean annual temperature at the site of origin. Overall, these results highlight the value of within-species phenotyping across relevant temperature regimes to identify high-performing duckweed material for applied use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Physiology of Duckweed: Towards Multi-Purpose Applications)
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