A New Approach to Sampling Intact Fe Plaque Reveals Si-Induced Changes in Fe Mineral Composition and Shoot As in Rice.

The Fe (oxyhydr)oxide rind, or Fe plaque, that forms on aquatic plant roots is an important sorbent of metal(loid)s and plays a role in the attenuation of metal(loid) uptake into higher plants. However, the mineral composition of Fe plaque and thus its potential to sorb metal(loid)s is affected by solution chemistry. The predominant strategy to characterize Fe plaque using dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate (DCB) extraction and elemental analysis reveals total Fe quantity but misses the mineral structure of the Fe (oxyhydr)oxide. Here, we developed a new technique using gentle sonication to sample intact Fe plaque from the root system and concentrate it for subsequent mineralogical characterization using synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. We then coupled that data with conventional DCB extraction. The sample preparation method was effective at concentrating As-bound Fe plaque minerals in a uniform coating onto membranes that could easily be analyzed with X-ray techniques. Using these methods, we show that the percentage of poorly ordered Fe minerals in Fe plaque increases with increasing pore-water Si in flooded rice paddy soils. These findings have implications for understanding mineral controls on As cycling in the soil-rice nexus, and the sampling approach can be adopted for other aquatic plant systems.

Bioaccumulation and effects of lanthanum on growth and mitotic index in soybean plants.

Rare earth elements such as lanthanum (La) have been used as agricultural inputs in some countries in order to enhance yield and improve crop quality. However, little is known about the effect of La on the growth and structure of soybean, which is an important food and feed crop worldwide. In this study, bioaccumulation of La and its effects on the growth and mitotic index of soybean was evaluated. Soybean plants were exposed to increasing concentrations of La (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 µM) in nutrient solution for 28 days. Plant response to La was evaluated in terms of plant growth, nutritional characteristics, photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content, mitotic index, modifications in the ultrastructure of roots and leaves, and La mapping in root and shoot tissues. The results showed that the roots of soybean plants can accumulate sixty-fold more La than shoots. La deposition occurred mainly in cell walls and in crystals dispersed in the root cortex and in the mesophyll. When La was applied, it resulted in increased contents of some essential nutrients (i.e., Ca, P, K, and Mn), while Cu and Fe levels decreased. Moreover, low La concentrations stimulated the photosynthetic rate and total chlorophyll content and lead to a higher incidence of binucleate cells, resulting in a slight increase in roots and shoot biomass. At higher La levels, soybean growth was reduced. This was caused by ultrastructural modifications in the cell wall, thylakoids and chloroplasts, and the appearance of c-metaphases.

Foliar Application of an Inositol-Based Plant Biostimulant Boosts Zinc Accumulation in Wheat Grains: A µ-X-Ray Fluorescence Case Study.

There has been much interest in the incorporation of organic molecules or biostimulants into foliar fertilizers with the rationalization that these compounds will enhance the uptake, or subsequent mobility of the applied nutrient. The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of an inositol-based plant stimulant on the mobility and accumulation of foliar-applied zinc (Zn) in wheat plants (Triticum aestivum L.). High-resolution elemental imaging with micro-X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) was utilized to examine Zn distribution within the vascular bundle of the leaf and whole grains. The inclusion of myo-inositol with Zinc sulfate, significantly increased Zn concentration in shoots in contrast to untreated controls and Zn sulfate applied alone. Foliar Zn treated plants increased Zn in grains by 5-25% with myo-inositol plus Zn treated plants significantly increasing grain Zn concentration compared to both Zn treated and non-treated controls. XRF imaging revealed Zn enrichment in the bran layer and germ, with a very low Zn concentration present in the endosperm. Plants treated with Zn plus myo-inositol showed an enhanced and uniform distribution of Zn throughout the bran layer and germ with an increased concentration in the endosperm. While our data suggest that foliar application of myo-inositol in combination with Zn may be a promising strategy to increase the absorption and mobility of Zn in the plant tissue and subsequently to enhance Zn accumulation in grains, further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms by which myo-inositol affects plant metabolism and nutrient mobility.

Silicon-rich amendments in rice paddies: Effects on arsenic uptake and biogeochemistry.

An emerging approach to limit rice uptake and grain As targets the shared root-uptake pathway between As(III) and Si. We amended rice paddy mesocosms with Si-rich rice residues (husk and husk char) or silicate fertilizer to evaluate the impact of different Si sources on rice uptake of Si and As including As speciation in grain under background soil As. For a systems-approach, we also measured plant biomass, rice yield, porewater chemistry, mesocosm-scale CH4 and CO2 fluxes, plant concentrations of nutrients and metals, and root Fe plaque mineralogy. Relative to the control, Si-rich amendments increased plant Si and proportion of ferrihydrite on root plaque, decreased root-to-shoot Mn transfer and As uptake, and shifted grain As from inorganic to organic As. The charred husk treatment, which resulted in the most Si accumulation in rice shoots, most decreased plant As and grain As. Husk treatment led to the highest CH4 emissions, but all treatments had lower CH4 emissions than has been reported for straw treatments. Collectively, Si-rich amendments performed similarly across several biogeochemical benchmarks, with charred husk best restricting plant As, suggesting these amendments can be used to reduce toxicity of As from rice grain while maintaining yield.

Thymus vulgaris essential oil and thymol against Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler: effects on growth, viability, early infection and cellular mode of action.

BACKGROUND: In initial assays, Thymus vulgaris essential oil (TEO) has demonstrated activity against several plant-pathogenic fungi and has reduced the fungal diseases to levels comparable with commercial fungicides. Thus, the goal of this work was to identify the mode of action in fungi of TEO and its major compound thymol (TOH) at the cellular level using an ultrastructure approach. RESULTS: TEO from leaves and TOH had minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 500 and 250 µg mL(-1) respectively against A. alternata; under the same conditions, MIC for a commercial fungicide was 1250 µg mL(-1) . Ultrastructure analysis showed that TOH phenolic substance prevented fungal growth, reduced fungal viability and prevented the penetration in fruits by a cell wall/plasma membrane interference mode of action with organelles targeted for destruction in the cytoplasm. Such mode of action differs from protective and preventive-curative commercial fungicides used as pattern control. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that TOH was responsible for the antifungal activity of TEO. Therefore, both the essential oil and its major substance have potential for use in the development of new phenolic structures and analogues to control Alternaria brown spot disease caused by Alternaria alternata.

Gomphrena claussenii, the first South-American metallophyte species with indicator-like Zn and Cd accumulation and extreme metal tolerance.

Plant species with the capacity to tolerate heavy metals are potentially useful for phytoremediation since they have adapted to survive and reproduce under toxic conditions and to accumulate high metal concentrations. Gomphrena claussenii Moq., a South-American species belonging to the Amaranthaceae, is found at a zinc (Zn) mining area in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Through soil and hydroponic experiments, the metal tolerance and accumulation capacities of G. claussenii were assessed and the effects on physiological characteristics were compared with a closely related non-tolerant species, G. elegans Mart. G. claussenii plants grown in soil sampled at the Zn smelting area accumulated up to 5318µgg(-) (1) of Zn and 287 µg g(-) (1) of cadmium (Cd) in shoot dry biomass after 30 days of exposure. Plants were grown in hydroponics containing up to 3000 µM of Zn and 100 µM of Cd for G. claussenii and 100 µM of Zn and 5 µM of Cd for G. elegans. G. claussenii proved to be an extremely tolerant species to both Zn and Cd, showing only slight metal toxicity symptoms at the highest treatment levels, without significant decrease in biomass and no effects on root growth, whereas the non-tolerant species G. elegans showed significant toxicity effects at the highest exposure levels. Both species accumulated more Zn and Cd in roots than in shoots. In G. elegans, over 90% of the Cd remained in the roots, but G. claussenii showed a root:shoot concentration ratio of around 2, with shoots reaching 0.93% Zn and 0.13% Cd on dry matter base. In G. claussenii shoots, the concentrations of other minerals, such as iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn), were only affected by the highest Zn treatment while in G. elegans the Fe and Mn concentrations in shoots decreased drastically at both Zn and Cd treatments. Taking together, these results indicate that G. claussenii is a novel metallophyte, extremely tolerant of high Zn and Cd exposure and an interesting species for further phytoremediation studies.