Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) contamination and boron (B) deficiency are two major challenges associated with the farmland soils in Southern China. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the impacts of B supply on Cd accumulation in water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) using a cultivar (T308) with high Cd accumulation. The study further investigated the physiological mechanism behind the changes in Cd accumulation due to B supply. The findings revealed that B supply substantially reduced the Cd concentration in the leaves of water spinach by 41.20% and 37.16% under the Cd stress of 10 μM and 25 μM, respectively. Subcellular distribution of Cd showed that the Cd content as well as its proportion in root cell wall (RCW) increased significantly after B supply. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed significant enrichment of negatively charged groups (such as -OH, -COOH, and -NH2) in the RCW after B supply. Overall, B supply also enhanced covalently bound pectin (CSP) content as well as the Cd content linked with CSP under Cd stress. These observations revealed that B regulated the Cd chelation in RCW, thereby reducing the amassment of Cd in water spinach.
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Funding
This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42107039), Scientific Research Foundation of Hunan Provincial Education Department (Grant No. 20B164), the Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Province (2021B0909050002), and the College Students Research Learning and Innovative Experiment Project of Hunan Province (Grant No. S202311528024).
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A total of ten authors participated in this work, including Ying-Ying Huang, Chuang Shen, Xue-Song Wang, Hui-Ling Fu, Bai-Fei Huang, Yi Li, Hui Wen, Yun-fan Wang, Wen-Jing Zhou, and Jun-Liang Xin. Conception and design of study: Jun-Liang Xin, Ying-Ying Huang, and Chuang Shen; acquisition of data: Ying-Ying Huang, Xue-Song Wang, Hui-Ling Fu, Bai-Fei Huang, Yun-fan Wang, and Wen-Jing Zhou; analysis and/or interpretation of data: Ying-Ying Huang, Yi Li, Hui Wen, and Jun-Liang Xin; drafting the manuscript: Ying-Ying Huang; revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content: Chuang Shen, Ying-Ying Huang, and Jun-Liang Xin.
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Huang, Y., Shen, C., Wang, X. et al. Boron decreases cadmium accumulation in water spinach by enhancing cadmium retention in the root cell walls. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 101168–101177 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29447-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29447-z