Cadmium Phytotoxicity: Responses, Mechanisms and Mitigation Strategies: A Review

The impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, Funneliformis mosseae, on rosemary phytoremediation ability under urban traffic

The aim of this study was to investigate the symbiotic relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizae (Funneliformis mosseae) and the ability of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) to mitigate urban traffic pollution. A factorial experiment with three replications and three factors (inoculated/non-inoculated with G. mosseae, traffic volume, and pot type) was conducted in Shiraz, a metropolis in south-central Iran. Inoculation with F. mosseae led to a 33% increase in root weight and a 20% increase in root length under a traffic volume of 4,200 Vehicles/H. Additionally, as traffic volume increased, stem length and dry weight of the entire plant inoculated with the fungus increased by 8.33% and 29.53%, respectively. The presence of fungus in the rosemary plant decreased the accumulation of Cd and increased the accumulation of Pb by 12.82% and 55.82%, respectively under traffic conditions of 4,200 Vehicles/H. The transfer factor (TF) of Cd and Pb in rosemary plant inoculated under these traffic conditions decreased by 25.74% and 25.24%, respectively. These findings indicate that mycorrhiza-inoculated rosemary plants can thrive in Cd- and Pb-contaminated soils, effectively remediating heavy metals, particularly Pb, with a TF >1.

Assessment of cadmium and lead tolerance potential of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) and its implications for phytoremediation and human health

Soil contamination with Cd and Pb is a worldwide problem which not only degrades the environment but also poses a serious threat for human and animal health. Phytoremediation of these contaminated soils using halophytic plants like quinoa presents an opportunity to clean the soils and use them for crop production. The current experiment was performed to evaluate the Cd and Pb tolerance potential of quinoa and subsequently its implications for human health. Three weeks old quinoa seedlings were exposed to Cd (30, 60 and 90 mg kg^-1) and Pb (50, 100 and 150 mg kg^-1) levels along with a control. The results revealed that plant height decreased at highest levels of soil Cd and Pb. Shoot, root and seed dry weight decreased with increasing levels of soil Cd and Pb. Tissue Cd and Pb concentrations increased with increasing levels of Cd and Pb in soil, the highest Cd was found in roots while the lowest in seeds. The highest Pb concentration was found in shoots at low Pb level, while in roots at high level of Pb. Increasing levels of Cd and Pb stimulated the activities of measured antioxidant enzymes and decreased membrane stability index. The health risk assessments of Cd and Pb revealed that hazard quotient was < 1 for both the metals. However, the results of total hazard quotient showed that value was < 1 for Pb and 1.19 for Cd showing potential carcinogenicity. This study demonstrates that quinoa has good phytoremediation potential for Cd and Pb however, the risk of Cd toxicity is challenging for human health.

Silicon Application Modulates Growth, Physio-Chemicals, and Antioxidants in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Exposed to Different Cadmium Regimes

Silicon (Si) application enhanced the tolerance of plants against different environmental stresses. Therefore, objective of the study revealed that foliar applied Si alleviates the adverse effect of Cd by enhancing the growth, metabolite accumulation, strengthening the antioxidant defense system, reducing oxidative injury, improving plant nutrient status, and decreasing the Cd uptake in wheat. The surface sterilized seeds of Sahar-2006 (tolerant) and Inqalab-91 (sensitive) having the differential metal tolerance capacity were sown in plastic pots containing normal and Cd spiked sandy loamy soil. The design of experiments was completely randomized with 3 replicates per treatment. Two weeks after germination, plants were sprayed with different concentrations of Si (1.5 and 3 mM) with 0.1% surfactant in the form of Tween-20. The plants were harvested after 2 weeks of Si application to determine various attributes. High concentration of Cd (25 mg kg-1) decreased growth-related-attributes, essential nutrient uptake and increase the levels of oxidative stress indicators. The application of Si increased the growth-related attributes, photosynthetic pigments, essential nutrient uptake and also enhanced the activities of various antioxidant compounds (superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) by decreasing the contents of oxidative stress indicators and Cd uptake in root and shoot of both wheat cultivars. Sahar-2006 cultivar showed more tolerance to Cd regimes than that of Inqalab-91 as clear from greater plant dry masses. Thus, our results showed that the applied Si level (3 mM) is an efficient strategy for field use in the areas, where slightly Cd polluted soils limit the agriculture production.

Phosphorylation of a malate transporter promotes malate excretion and reduces cadmium uptake in apple

Heavy metal contamination is a major environmental and human health hazard in many areas of the world. Organic acids sequester heavy metals and protect plant roots from the effects of toxicity; however, it is largely unknown how these acids are regulated in response to heavy metal stress. Here, protein kinase SOS2L1 from apple was functionally characterized. MdSOS2L1 was found to be involved in the regulation of malate excretion, and to inhibit cadmium uptake into roots. Using the DUAL membrane system in a screen of an apple cDNA library with MdSOS2L1 as bait, a malate transporter, MdALMT14, was identified as an interactor. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation, pull-down, and co-immunoprecipitation assays further indicated the interaction of the two proteins. Transgenic analyses showed that MdSOS2L1 is required for cadmium-induced phosphorylation at the Ser358 site of MdALMT14, a modification that enhanced the stability of the MdALMT14 protein. MdSOS2L1 was also shown to enhance cadmium tolerance in an MdALMT14-dependent manner. This study sheds light on the roles of the MdSOS2L1-MdALMT14 complex in physiological responses to cadmium toxicity.

Uptake and Intraradical Immobilization of Cadmium by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi as Revealed by a Stable Isotope Tracer and Synchrotron Radiation μX-Ray Fluorescence Analysis

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can improve plant tolerance to heavy metal contamination. This detoxification ability may largely depend on how AM fungi influence the uptake and distribution of metals in host plants. Two experiments were performed in order to gain insights into the mechanisms underlying cadmium (Cd) tolerance in mycorrhizal plants. Stable isotope Cd¹⁰⁶ and compartmented pots were adopted to quantify the contribution of the AM fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, to the uptake of Cd by Lotus japonicus. Moreover, synchrotron radiation μX-ray fluorescence (SR-μXRF) was applied to localize Cd in the mycorrhizal roots at the sub-cellular level. The results obtained indicated that mycorrhizal colonization markedly enhanced Cd immobilization in plant roots. Less Cd was partitioned to plant shoots when only hyphae had access to Cd in the hyphal compartment than when roots also had direct access to the Cd pool. SR-μXRF imaging indicated that Cd absorbed by extraradical hyphae was translocated into intraradical fungal structures, in which arbuscules accumulated large amounts of Cd; however, plant cells without fungal structures and plant cell walls contained negligible amounts of Cd. The present results provide direct evidence for the intraradical immobilization of Cd absorbed by AM fungi, which may largely contribute to the enhanced tolerance of plants to Cd. Therefore, AM fungi may play a role in the phytostabilization of Cd-contaminated soil.

Comparative study of Cd uptake and tolerance of two Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) cultivars

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic heavy metals and is difficult to be removed from contaminated soil and water. Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), as an energy crop, exhibits a valuable potential to develop Cd polluted sites due to its use as a biofuel rather than as food and forage. Previously, via a screening for Cd-tolerant ryegrass, the two most extreme cultivars (IdyII and Harukaze) with high and low Cd tolerance during seed germination, respectively, were selected. However, the underlying mechanism for Cd tolerance was not well investigated. In this study, we comparatively investigated the growth, physiological responses, and Cd uptake and translocation of IdyII and Harukaze when the seedlings were exposed to a Cd (0–100 μM) solution for 12 days. As expected, excess Cd inhibited seedling growth and was accompanied by an accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced photosynthetic pigments in both cultivars. The effects of Cd on the uptake and translocation of other nutrient elements (Zn, Fe, Mn and Mg) were dependent on Cd concentrations, cultivars, plant tissues and elements. Compared with Harukaze, IdyII exhibited better performance with less MDA and higher pigment content. Furthermore, IdyII was less efficient in Cd uptake and translocation compared to Harukaze, which might be explained by the higher non-protein thiols content in its roots. Taken together, our data indicate that IdyII is more tolerant than Harukaze, which partially resulted from the differences in Cd uptake and translocation.

Cadmium accumulation and tolerance of Macleaya cordata: a newly potential plant for sustainable phytoremediation in Cd-contaminated soil

Heavy metal pollution is a major concern of the public due to their threats to the safety of food chains. A 60-day pot experiment was conducted using Macleaya cordata as plant material to investigate the phytoremediation potential and anti-oxidative responses of M. cordata under different Cd stress. Significant growth inhibition phenomenon and toxic symptoms were not detected in the experiment. The high biomass of the plant provided high accumulation capacity for Cd with an average dry weight of 3.6 g. The maximum extraction amount of Cd was 393 μg·plant(-1), suggesting that this species had potential for phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soil. A slight increase of chlorophyll (CHL) content was observed in Cd10 treatment. The plant was confirmed to have relatively high tolerance to the Cd stress on the basis of tolerance indexes (TI), relative water content, and CHLa/CHLb ratio. M. cordata could maintain high level of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity under Cd stress, indicating strong tolerance capacity for reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells. Catalase (CAT) activity show a certain range of decline in the experiment compare to the control. And peroxidase (POD) activity in leaves changed irregularly when compared to the control. The malondialdehyde (MDA) content increased as Cd concentration elevated compared to the control. In addition, as an inedible crop with relatively high economic value, M. cordata have shown the advantage of high biomass and high tolerance under Cd stress, which can provide a new plant resource for sustainable phytoremediation.

Phytoremediation potential of Arabidopsis thaliana, expressing ectopically a vacuolar proton pump, for the industrial waste phosphogypsum

Phosphogypsum (PG) is a by-product of the phosphorus-fertiliser industry and represents an environmental concern since it contains pollutants such as cadmium (Cd). We have recently shown that the overexpression of a proton pump gene (TaVP1) in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) led to an enhanced Cd tolerance and accumulation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants harbouring the TaVP1 gene to phytoremediate phosphogypsum. A pot experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions. Transgenic A. thaliana plants harbouring the TaVP1 gene were grown on various substrates containing phosphogypsum (0, 25, 50 and 100 %) for 40 days. At the end of the growth period, we examined the growth (germination, root length, fresh weight) and physiological parameters (chlorophyll and protein contents, catalase activity and proteolysis) as well as the cadmium, Mg, Ca, and P contents of the A. thaliana plants. In order to evaluate Cd tolerance of the A. thaliana lines harbouring the TaVP1 gene, an in vitro experiment was also carried out. One week-old seedlings were transferred to Murashige and Skoog agar plates containing various concentrations of cadmium; the germination, total leaf area and root length were determined. The growth and physiological parameters of all A. thaliana plants were significantly altered by PG. The germination capacity, root growth and biomass production of wild-type (WT) plants were more severely inhibited by PG compared with the TaVP1 transgenic A. thaliana lines. In addition, TaVP1 transgenic A. thaliana plants maintained a higher antioxidant capacity than the WT. Interestingly, elemental analysis of leaf material derived from plants grown on PG revealed that the transgenic A. thaliana line accumulated up to ten times more Cd than WT. Despite its higher Cd content, the transgenic A. thaliana line performed better than the WT counterpart. In vitro evaluation of Cd tolerance showed that TaVP1 transgenic A. thaliana lines were more Cd-tolerant than the WT plants. These results suggested that ectopic expression of a vacuolar proton pump in A. thaliana plants can lead to various biotechnological applications including the phytoremediation of industrial wastes.

Soil cadmium enrichment: Allocation and plant physiological manifestations

Cadmium (Cd) in soil is enriched through several leaky management agricultural practices and natural resources. Cd enriched soil is inevitable cause of nutritional stress besides Cd induced toxicity symptoms and physiological malfunctions. Redox signals shift toward oxidative stress which accelerates cellular damage and elicits defense mechanism at the cost of growth. Plants get enriched with this toxic, abundant and undesirable element through 'mineral uptake system' non-specifically. Different components and pathways have been marked cooperating in cellular sequestration and systemic localization of Cd, escaped from avoidance and efflux. Cd induced metabolic alteration led to electron leakage as ROS, reduced photosynthesis and carbon fixation. Compromised primary metabolism negatively feedbacks the plant growth, result into loss of potential crop yield.