Issue 14, 2013
From the journal:

RSC Advances

Specific stress responses to cadmium, arsenic and mercury appear in the metallophyte Silene vulgaris when grown hydroponically†

Juan Sobrino-Plata,ad   Joaquín Herrero,a   Sandra Carrasco-Gil,ab   Araceli Pérez-Sanz,c   Carmen Lobo,c   Carolina Escobar,d   Rocío Millánb  and  Luis E. Hernández*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal, Dpto. Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Cantoblanco
E-mail: luise.hernandez@uam.es

b Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, Avd. Complutense, 22, 28040 Madrid, Spain

c Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario, “El Encín” Autovía A-2 Km 38, 28800 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid

d Departamento de Ciencias del Medioambiente, Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, Campus Fábrica de Armas, 45070 Toledo, Spain

Abstract

The tolerance of the metallophyte Silene vulgaris, a plant suitable for the phytostabilisation of metal(loid)-contaminated soils, to arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd) was evaluated in a semi-hydroponic culture system under controlled environmental conditions. The appearance of oxidative stress, alteration of photochemical processes and modification of biothiol content were studied as physiological parameters of metal(loid) stress in plants treated with 0, 6 and 30 μM (As, Hg or Cd) for 7 days. In spite of the metal(loid) excluder behaviour of S. vulgaris, Cd was translocated to the aerial part of the plant at a higher rate than Hg or As. The major toxic effects were observed in roots, where lipid peroxidation was increased in a dose-dependent manner. Redox enzymes such as glutathione reductase (GR) were severely inhibited by Hg, whereas GR was overexpressed. The accumulation of Cd produced a remarkable production of phytochelatins (PCs) in roots, whereas Hg and As led to modest PCs synthesis. There was a severe loss of chlorophyll content in Cd-treated plants, accompanied with a significant decrease in photosystem II efficiency (ΦPSII) and photochemical quenching (qP). Similar negative effects were observed in Hg- and As-exposed plants, but to a lesser degree. The exposure to the highest dose of each toxic element (30 μM) caused depletion of the light harvesting complex b1 protein. In conclusion, specific stress signatures to each metal(loid) were observed, with As being the least toxic element, suggesting that different mechanisms of tolerance were exerted. These results could be applied in future experiments to select tolerant ecotypes to optimize the phytostabilisation of metal(loid) multipolluted soils.

Graphical abstract: Specific stress responses to cadmium, arsenic and mercury appear in the metallophyte Silene vulgaris when grown hydroponically

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C3RA40357B
Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Jan 2013
Accepted
24 Jan 2013
First published
24 Jan 2013

RSC Adv., 2013,3, 4736-4744

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Specific stress responses to cadmium, arsenic and mercury appear in the metallophyte Silene vulgaris when grown hydroponically

J. Sobrino-Plata, J. Herrero, S. Carrasco-Gil, A. Pérez-Sanz, C. Lobo, C. Escobar, R. Millán and L. E. Hernández, RSC Adv., 2013, 3, 4736 DOI: 10.1039/C3RA40357B

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