The regulation of P700 is an important photoprotective mechanism to NaCl-salinity in Jatropha curcas.

Salinity commonly affects photosynthesis and crop production worldwide. Salt stress disrupts the fine balance between photosynthetic electron transport and the Calvin cycle reactions, leading to over-reduction and excess energy within the thylakoids. The excess energy triggers reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction that causes photoinhibition in both photosystems (PS) I and II. However, the role of PSI photoinhibition and its physiological mechanisms for photoprotection have not yet been fully elucidated. In the present study, we analyzed the effects of 15 consecutive days of 100 mM NaCl in Jatropha curcas plants, primarily focusing on the photosynthetic electron flow at PSI level. We found that J. curcas plants have important photoprotective mechanisms to cope with the harmful effects of salinity. We show that maintaining P700 in an oxidized state is an important photoprotector mechanism, avoiding ROS burst in J. curcas exposed to salinity. In addition, upon photoinhibition of PSI, the highly reduced electron transport chain triggers a significant increase in H2 O2 content which can lead to the production of hydroxyl radical by Mehler reactions in chloroplast, thereby increasing PSI photoinhibition.

Ecophysiological responses of Jatropha curcas L. seedlings to simulated acid rain under different soil types.

Acid rain is a global environmental problem. Acid rain can affect plants directly by damaging the leaves and indirectly by soil acidifying. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the impacts of acid rain on plant under a single soil type. However, there is little information on the effect of acid rain on plant under different soil types. Jatropha curcas L. is an energy plant widely distributed in acid rain pollution area with various soil types. In this study, we investigated the effects of acid rain (pH2.5, pH3.5, pH4.5, pH5.6) on the growth, physiology, nutrient elements and bacterial community of J. curcas seedlings under different soil types [Red soils (RS), Yellow soils (YS), Yellow-brown soils (YBS), and Purplish soils (PS)]. Acid rain and soil types significantly influence the growth of J. curcas seedlings, and there was a significant interaction between acid rain and soil types. Acid rain (pH 4.5) was beneficial to the growth of J. curcas seedlings, whereas acid rain (pH 2.5 or 3.5) inhibited growth of J. curcas seedlings. The growth of J. curcas seedlings could resist the stress of acid rain by scavenging and detoxification of active oxygen species in leaves. Combined with the increase in relative growth rate of seedlings treated with simulated acid rain at pH 4.5, we inferred that K can stimulate the growth of seedlings. The lower soil pH, cation exchange capacity and base saturation had stronger inhibitory effects on growth of J. curcas seedlings. YBS and PS were beneficial for growth of J. curcas seedlings by higher buffering capacity under acid rain treatments. The phylum Proteobacteria was found to predominate in rhizosphere soils. YBS was favorable to support Proteobacteria growth and reproduction. The redundancy analysis showed that the Cyanobacteria were favorable to growth of J. curcas seedlings.

Jatropha curcas and assisted phytoremediation of a mine tailing with biochar and a mycorrhizal fungus.

Soil pollution is an important ecological problem worldwide. Phytoremediation is an environmental-friendly option for reducing metal pollution. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to determine the growth and physiological response, metal uptake, and the phytostabilization potential of a nontoxic Jatropha curcas L. genotype when grown in multimetal-polluted conditions. Plants were established on a mine residue (MR) amended or not amended with corn biochar (B) and inoculated or not inoculated with the mycorrhizal fungus Acaulospora sp. (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, AMF). J. curcas was highly capable of growing in an MR and showed no phytotoxic symptoms. After J. curcas growth (105 days), B produced high desorption of Cd and Pb from the MR; however, no increases in metal shoot concentrations were observed. Therefore, Jatropha may be useful for phytostabilization of metals in mine tailings. The use of B is recommended because improved MR chemical properties conduced to plant growth (cation-exchange capacity, organic matter content, essential nutrients, electrical conductivity, water-holding capacity) and plant growth development (higher biomass, nutritional and physiological performance). Inoculation with an AMF did not improve any plant growth or physiological plant characteristic. Only higher Zn shoot concentration was observed, but it was not phytotoxic. Future studies of B use and its long-term effect on MR remediation should be conducted under field conditions.

Branching, flowering and fruiting of Jatropha curcas treated with ethephon or benzyladenine and gibberellins.

Jatropha curcas L. has been identified for biofuel production but it presents limited commercial yields due to limited branching and a lack of yield uniformity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of single application of ethephon or a combination of 6-benzyladenine (BA) with gibberellic acid isomers A4 and A7 (GA4+7) on branch induction, flowering and fruit production in jatropha plants with and without leaves. Plants with and without leaves showed differences for growth and reproductive variables. For all variables except inflorescence set, there were no significant statistical interactions between the presence of leaves and plant growth regulators concentration. The total number of flowers per inflorescence was reduced as ethephon concentration was increased. As BA + GA4 +7 concentration increased, seed dry weight increased. Thus, ethephon and BA + GA4 +7 applications appeared to affect flowering and seed production to a greater extent than branching. The inability to discern significant treatment effects for most variables might have been due to the large variability within plant populations studied and thus resulting in an insufficient sample size. Therefore, data collected from this study were used for statistical estimations of sample sizes to provide a reference for future studies.

Effects of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, native microorganisms, and rock dust on Jatropha curcas L. growth.

Microorganisms with the ability to release nutrients to the soil from insoluble sources may be useful for plant cultivation. We evaluated the growth-promoting effect on Jatropha curcas L. of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and the native microbiota in soil with or without rock dust. J. curcas L. is important for biodiesel production. The experiments were performed in a greenhouse under a random-statistical design with 14 replicates. The soil received increasing dosages of rock dust. The presence of resident microorganisms and PSB inoculum was correlated with plant height, biomass production, and phosphorus content in plants for 120 days. Native soil microorganisms were detected and identified using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and DNA sequence analysis. Several bacterial populations belonged to the genus Bacillus. Populations associated with the phyla Chytridiomycota and Ascomycota were detected among the fungi. The best results for the variable plant height were correlated with the presence of resident microbiota and rock dust until the end of the experiment. The largest biomass production and the highest content of phosphorus occurred in the presence of soil-resident microbiota only up to 120 days. No significant effects were observed for biomass production with the use of PSB combined with rock dust. J. curcas L. under the influence of only resident microbiota showed the best plant growth results. Future research will focus on the specificity of resident microbiota activity in plant growth promotion and the isolation of these microorganisms to produce a new inoculum to be tested in various plants.

Mercury uptake and effects on growth in Jatropha curcas.

The use of metal-accumulating plants for the phytoremediation of contaminated soils is gaining more attention. Mercury (Hg)-contaminated soils from historical gold mines represent a potential risk to human health and the environment. Therefore, Jatropha curcas plant, that has shown its tolerance to these environments, is a species of particular interest to implement phytoremediation techniques in gold mining sites. In this work, the behavior of J. curcas was assessed in different hydroponic cultures fortified with Hg at concentrations of 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80µgHg/mL (T5, T10, T20, T40 and T80, respectively). After exposure, plant growth, net photosynthesis, leaf area, and Hg accumulation were determined and variables such as net Hg uptake, effective Hg accumulation, translocation and bioaccumulation factors were calculated. Accumulation of Hg in root and leaf tissues increased with respect to the Hg concentrations in the hydroponic culture, with statistically significant differences (p<0.05) among treatments. Moreover, Hg concentration in roots was 7 and 12-fold higher in average than in plant leaves and shoots, respectively. Many effects were found in the development of plants, especially related with loss of biomass and leaf area, with significant growth inhibition related to control values (>50% with treatment T5). Moreover, percentage of inhibition was even higher (>60%) with same treatment for net photosynthesis. Finally, it should be highlighted that for T40 and T80 treatments, plant growth and photosynthesis were almost completely depleted (88%-95%).

Gibberellin Promotes Shoot Branching in the Perennial Woody Plant Jatropha curcas.

Strigolactone (SL), auxin and cytokinin (CK) interact to regulate shoot branching. CK has long been considered to be the only key phytohormone to promote lateral bud outgrowth. Here we report that gibberellin also acts as a positive regulator in the control of shoot branching in the woody plant Jatropha curcas. We show that gibberellin and CK synergistically promote lateral bud outgrowth, and that both hormones influence the expression of putative branching regulators, J. curcas BRANCHED1 and BRANCHED2, which are key transcription factors maintaining bud dormancy. Moreover, treatment with paclobutrazol, an inhibitor of de novo gibberellin biosynthesis, significantly reduced the promotion of bud outgrowth by CK, suggesting that gibberellin is required for CK-mediated axillary bud outgrowth. In addition, SL, a plant hormone involved in the repression of shoot branching, acted antagonistically to both gibberellin and CK in the control of lateral bud outgrowth. Consistent with this, the expression of JcMAX2, a J. curcas homolog of Arabidopsis MORE AXILLARY GROWTH 2 encoding an F-box protein in the SL signaling pathway, was repressed by gibberellin and CK treatment. We also provide physiological evidence that gibberellin also induces shoot branching in many other trees, such as papaya, indicating that a more complicated regulatory network occurs in the control of shoot branching in some perennial woody plants.

Transcriptome of the inflorescence meristems of the biofuel plant Jatropha curcas treated with cytokinin.

BACKGROUND: Jatropha curcas, whose seed content is approximately 30-40% oil, is an ideal feedstock for producing biodiesel and bio-jet fuels. However, Jatropha plants have a low number of female flowers, which results in low seed yield that cannot meet the needs of the biofuel industry. Thus, increasing the number of female flowers is critical for the improvement of Jatropha seed yield. Our previous findings showed that cytokinin treatment can increase the flower number and female to male ratio and also induce bisexual flowers in Jatropha. The mechanisms underlying the influence of cytokinin on Jatropha flower development and sex determination, however, have not been clarified. RESULTS: This study examined the transcriptional levels of genes involved in the response to cytokinin in Jatropha inflorescence meristems at different time points after cytokinin treatment by 454 sequencing, which gave rise to a total of 294.6 Mb of transcript sequences. Up-regulated and down-regulated annotated and novel genes were identified, and the expression levels of the genes of interest were confirmed by qRT-PCR. The identified transcripts include those encoding genes involved in the biosynthesis, metabolism, and signaling of cytokinin and other plant hormones, flower development and cell division, which may be related to phenotypic changes of Jatropha in response to cytokinin treatment. Our analysis indicated that Jatropha orthologs of the floral organ identity genes known as ABCE model genes, JcAP1,2, JcPI, JcAG, and JcSEP1,2,3, were all significantly repressed, with an exception of one B-function gene JcAP3 that was shown to be up-regulated by BA treatment, indicating different mechanisms to be involved in the floral organ development of unisexual flowers of Jatropha and bisexual flowers of Arabidopsis. Several cell division-related genes, including JcCycA3;2, JcCycD3;1, JcCycD3;2 and JcTSO1, were up-regulated, which may contribute to the increased flower number after cytokinin treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents the first report of global expression patterns of cytokinin-regulated transcripts in Jatropha inflorescence meristems. This report laid the foundation for further mechanistic studies on Jatropha and other non-model plants responding to cytokinin. Moreover, the identification of functional candidate genes will be useful for generating superior varieties of high-yielding transgenic Jatropha.

Analysis of the transcriptional responses in inflorescence buds of Jatropha curcas exposed to cytokinin treatment.

BACKGROUND: Jatropha curcas L. is a potential biofuel plant. Application of exogenous cytokinin (6-benzyladenine, BA) on its inflorescence buds can significantly increase the number of female flowers, thereby improving seed yield. To investigate which genes and signal pathways are involved in the response to cytokinin in J. curcas inflorescence buds, we monitored transcriptional activity in inflorescences at 0, 3, 12, 24, and 48 h after BA treatment using a microarray. RESULTS: We detected 5,555 differentially expressed transcripts over the course of the experiment, which could be grouped into 12 distinct temporal expression patterns. We also identified 31 and 131 transcripts in J. curcas whose homologs in model plants function in flowering and phytohormonal signaling pathways, respectively. According to the transcriptional analysis of genes involved in flower development, we hypothesized that BA treatment delays floral organ formation by inhibiting the transcription of the A, B and E classes of floral organ-identity genes, which would allow more time to generate more floral primordia in inflorescence meristems, thereby enhancing inflorescence branching and significantly increasing flower number per inflorescence. BA treatment might also play an important role in maintaining the flowering signals by activating the transcription of GIGANTEA (GI) and inactivating the transcription of CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) and TERMINAL FLOWER 1b (TFL1b). In addition, exogenous cytokinin treatment could regulate the expression of genes involved in the metabolism and signaling of other phytohormones, indicating that cytokinin and other phytohormones jointly regulate flower development in J. curcas inflorescence buds. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides a framework to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying changes in flowering traits in response to cytokinin treatment in J. curcas inflorescence buds. The results provide valuable information related to the mechanisms of cross-talk among multiple phytohormone signaling pathways in woody plants.

Growth, reproductive phenology and yield responses of a potential biofuel plant, Jatropha curcas grown under projected 2050 levels of elevated CO2.

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) is a non-edible oil producing plant which is being advocated as an alternative biofuel energy resource. Its ability to grow in diverse soil conditions and minimal requirements of essential agronomical inputs compared with other oilseed crops makes it viable for cost-effective advanced biofuel production. We designed a study to investigate the effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration ([CO(2)]) (550 ppm) on the growth, reproductive development, source-sink relationships, fruit and seed yield of J. curcas. We report, for the first time that elevated CO(2) significantly influences reproductive characteristics of Jatropha and improve its fruit and seed yields. Net photosynthetic rate of Jatropha was 50% higher in plants grown in elevated CO(2) compared with field and ambient CO(2) -grown plants. The study also revealed that elevated CO(2) atmosphere significantly increased female to male flower ratio, above ground biomass and carbon sequestration potential in Jatropha (24 kg carbon per tree) after 1 year. Our data demonstrate that J. curcas was able to sustain enhanced rate of photosynthesis in elevated CO(2) conditions as it had sufficient sink strength to balance the increased biomass yields. Our study also elucidates that the economically important traits including fruit and seed yield in elevated CO(2) conditions were significantly high in J. curcas that holds great promise as a potential biofuel tree species for the future high CO(2) world.

Lead induced changes in growth and micronutrient uptake of Jatropha curcas L.

Effects of lead treatment on growth and micronutrient uptake in Jatropha curcas L. seedlings were assessed by means of microcosm experiments. Results suggested that superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased with increasing lead concentration. There was significant positive correlation between lead treatment concentration and SOD and peroxidase activity. Catalase activity was initiated under lower lead stress but, was inhibited under higher lead exposure. Lead had a stimulating effect on seedlings height and leaf area at lower lead concentrations. The J. curcas can accumulate higher amounts of available lead from soil but can translocate only low amounts to the shoots. Results indicating SOD and peroxidase activity in J. curcas seedlings played an important role in resisting the oxidative stress induced by lead. The addition of lead significantly increased the content of zinc in plant tissue and enhanced the transport of iron from roots to shoots but contributed to a decrease in measured copper, iron, and manganese content.

In vitro studies on effect of different concentration of NaCl on Jatropha curcas.

Short-term effect of different concentrations of NaCl on callus cultures of Jatropha curcas was investigated at different concentration of NaCl (0, 20, 40, 60, 80,100 mM). Results showed a decrease in fresh weight of callus cultures when subjected to increasing concentration of salt in the medium. Callus morphology correspondingly changed from off-white to blackish-brown above 40mM to acutely necrotic stage at 100 mM NaCl. The callus cultures after recurrent selection (at 20mM for 20 days) were transferred to salt free optimized callus regeneration medium expressed 90.0% recovery. The callus placed in 40mM, 60mM concentration of NaCl exhibited moderate tolerance and showed 64.0% and 56.0% recovery. In 80mM concentration, callus showed moderate susceptibility and showed 6.9% recovery of callus.

Effect of culture media and environmental factors on mycelial growth and pycnidial production of Lasiodiplodia theobromae in physic nut (Jatropha curcas).

Physic nut (Jatropha curcas) is an important commercial bio-diesel plant species and is being advocated for development of waste and dry land. The collar and root rot caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae is an important soil borne disease which causes considerable yield loss in this crop. In this study, the effects of culture media, temperature, photoperiod, carbon and nitrogen sources and pH on mycelial growth and pycnidial production were evaluated. Among the growth media tested, potato dextrose agar supported the highest growth followed by potato sucrose agar and corn meal agar. Among several carbon sources tested, carboxy methyl cellulose and sucrose were found superior for growth and pycnidial production. The nitrogen sources viz., ammonium oxalate and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate were recorded maximum mycelial growth and pycnidial production. The fungus grows at pH 5.0-9.0 and optimum growth was observed at pH 7.0.

Establishment of cell suspension cultures of two Costa Rican Jatropha species (Euphorbiaceae).

J. curcas has been studied in different countries and some interesting agronomic, pharmacological and industrial properties have been reported. More recently, it has been considered an important alternative source for biofuel production. The objective of this study was to establish a long-term method for the maintenance of calli and cell suspension cultures of the local species J. curcas and J. gossypifolia, in order to allow future studies for novel compounds with pharmaceutical or industrial applications. For this, friable calli were successfully induced from hypocotyl segments of.. curcas and J. gossypifolia that were cultured in semisolid MS media supplemented with 1.5 mg/L, and 0.5 mg/L of 2,4-D, respectively. Cell suspension cultures of J. curcas were established using 1 g of 35 and 60-day calli, in 50 mL of liquid MS media supplied with 1.5 mg/L of 2,4-D; sucrose and maltose were additionally evaluated as carbon sources. After 35 days, cell suspension cultures initiated with 35-day calli, showed greater cell growth with a maximum biomass of 194.9 g/L fresh weight, 6.59 g/L dry weight and 17.3% packed volume. The exponential phase ended at day 35 for cultures initiated with 35-day calli, and at day 21 for cultures initiated with 60-day calli. Higher biomass production was obtained with sucrose. Cell cultures were established with 35-day calli in MS media with the same 2,4-D concentration used for calli induction and 30g/L sucrose. This medium was considered optimum for the maintenance and growth of cell suspensions for both species, with sub-cultures every 20 days. The biotechnological potential for the production of bioactive compounds in these species for pharmacological, agricultural and industrial applications is being evaluated.

Water deficit and salt stress diagnosis through LED induced chlorophyll fluorescence analysis in Jatropha curcas L.

LED induced chlorophyll fluorescence analysis is employed to investigate the effect of water deficit and salt stress upon the growth process of Jatropha curcas L.. Red(Fr) and far-red(FFr) chlorophyll fluorescence around 685 nm and 735 nm, respectively, were observed and examined as a function of the stress intensity(salt concentration and water deficit). The fluorescence ratio Fr/FFr which is a valuable nondestructive and nonintrusive indicator of the chlorophyll content of leaves was exploited to monitor the jatropha plants under stress. The data indicated that salinity plays a minor role in the chlorophyll concentration of leaves for NaCl concentrations in the 25 to 200 mM range. The fluorescence ratio also permitted the detection of damage caused by water deficit in the early stages of the plants growing process. A significant variation of the Fr/FFr ratio was observed in the first 10 days of the experiment, and before signs of visual stress became apparent. The results suggest that the Fr/FFr ratio is an early-warning indicator of water deficit stress.

Growth, biomass production and remediation of copper contamination by Jatropha curcas plant in industrial wasteland soil.

The survival, biomass production and copper (Cu) remediation efficiency of Jatropha curcas L. was evaluated in Cu rich industrial wasteland soil (IWLS), collected from a local town, Sandila (Hardoi), Uttar Pradesh, India. The IWLS had high bulk density, water holding capacity (WHC), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon and NPK. The Cu and Mn contents in IWLS were about 3 and 2 fold higher than that in the normal field soil (control). Stem cuttings of the J. curcas clones (BTP-A, BTP-N and BTP-K) were planted in IWLS as well as the same amended with cowdung or sand. The percent survival, net elongations and biomass accumulation of J. curcas were decreased slightly in IWLS, as compared to the control soil. The translocation of Cu from soil to the plants was higher in IWLS grown plants, which was more pronounced in IWLS amended with cowdung. J. curcas clones BTP-N, showed better survival and Cu removal efficiency from IWLS.

Anaerobic digestion of Jatropha curcas L. press cake and effects of an iron-additive.

Oil production from Jatropha curcas L. seeds generates large amounts of Jatropha press cake (JPC) which can be utilized as a substrate for biogas production. The objective of this work was to investigate anaerobic mono-digestion of JPC and the effects of an iron additive (IA) on gas quality and process stability during the increase of the organic loading rate (OLR). With the increase of the OLR from 1.3 to 3.2 g(VS) L(-1) day(-1), the biogas yield in the reference reactor (RR) without IA decreased from 512 to 194 L(N) kg(VS) (-1) and the CH4 concentration decreased from 69.3 to 44.4%. In the iron additive reactor (IAR), the biogas yield decreased from 530 to 462 L(N) kg(VS) (-1) and the CH4 concentration decreased from 69.4 to 61.1%. The H2S concentration in the biogas was reduced by addition of the IA to values below 258 ppm in the IAR while H2S concentration in the RR increased and exceeded the detection limit of 5000 ppm. The acid capacity (AC) in the RR increased to more than 20 g L(-1), indicating an accumulation of organic acids caused by process instability. AC values in the IAR remained stable at values below 5 g L(-1). The results demonstrate that JPC can be used as sole substrate for anaerobic digestion up to an OLR of 2.4 g(VS) l(-1) day(-1). The addition of IA has effectively decreased the H(2)S content in the biogas and has improved the stability of the anaerobic process and the biogas quality.

Stress-induced curcin-L promoter in leaves of Jatropha curcas L. and characterization in transgenic tobacco.

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) represent a type of protein that universally inactivates the ribosome thus inhibiting protein biosynthesis. Curcin-L was a type I RIP found in Jatropha curcas L.. Its expression could be activated in leaves by treatments with abscisic acid, salicylic acid, polyethylene glycol, temperature 4, 45 degrees C and ultraviolet light. A 654 bp fragment of a 5' flanking region preceding the curcin-L gene, designated CP2, was cloned from the J. curcas genome and its expression pattern was studied via the expression of the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene in transgenic tobacco. Analysis of GUS activities showed that the CP2 was leaf specific, and was able to drive the expression of the reporter gene under stress-induction conditions. Analysis of a series of 5'-deletions of the CP2 suggested that several promoter motifs were necessary to respond to environmental stresses.

Growth and antioxidant responses in Jatropha curcas cotyledons under lead stress.

Jatropha curcas embryos were grown in vitro to observe the effects of lead on cotyledon responses. The cotyledon biomass increased initially and then decreased with increasing lead concentration. The SOD activity increased gradually up to 200 microM and then decreased. The POD activity showed a similar trend. The CAT activity was increased at all lead concentrations, the highest activity being observed at 200 microM. However, the PAL activity was inhibited significantly except for 100 microM. Anaylsis by electrophoresis suggested a significant correlation between lead concentration and patterns of SOD, POD and CAT isoenzymes, and these results were consistent with changes of the antioxidant enzyme activities as assayed in solution.

Aluminum directly inhibits alternative oxidase pathway and changes metabolic and redox parameters on Jatropha curcas cell culture.

Aluminum (Al) toxicity has been recognized to be a main limiting factor of crop productivity in acid soil. Al interacts with cell walls disrupting the functions of the plasma membrane and is associated with oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. Jatropha curcas L. (J. curcas) is a drought resistant plant, widely distributed around the world, with great economic and medicinal importance. Here we investigated the effects of Al on J. curcas mitochondrial function and cell viability, analyzing mitochondrial respiration, phenolic compounds, reducing sugars and cell viability in cultured J. curcas cells. The results showed that at 70 µM, Al limited mitochondrial respiration by inhibiting the alternative oxidase (AOX) pathway in the respiratory chain. An increased concentration of reducing sugars and reduced concentration of intracellular phenolic compounds was observed during respiratory inhibition. After inhibition, a time-dependent upregulation of AOX mRNA was observed followed by restoration of respiratory activity and reducing sugar concentrations. Cultured J. curcas cells were very resistant to Al-induced cell death. In addition, at 70 µM, Al also appeared as an inhibitor of cell wall invertase. In conclusion, Al tolerance in cultured J. curcas cells involves a inhibition of mitochondrial AOX pathway, which seems to start an oxidative burst to induce AOX upregulation, which in turn restores consumption of O2 and substrates. These data provide new insight into the signaling cascades that modulate the Al tolerance mechanism.