Kinetics of nickel bioaccumulation and its relevance to selected cellular processes in leaves of Elodea canadensis during short-term exposure.

Elodea canadensis is an aquatic macrophyte used widely as a bioindicator for the monitoring of water quality and in the phytoremediation of metal-contaminated waters. This study considers the kinetics of nickel bioaccumulation and changes in accompanying metabolic and stress-related physiological parameters. These include photosynthetic activity, pigment content, the accumulation of thiol-containing compounds, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) products, and the activity of selected antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase). Elodea leaves accumulated nickel according to pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the protective responses followed a time sequence which was related to the apparent rates of nickel accumulation. The applicability of second-order kinetics to the Ni uptake by Elodea leaves during the first 8 h of exposure to the metal suggested that the passive binding of metal ions (chemisorption) was a rate-limiting step at the initial phase of Ni accumulation. This phase was accompanied by an increase in photosynthetic activity together with elevated photosynthetic pigments and protein synthesis, the enhanced activity of antioxidant enzymes, and increased thiol concentration. In contrast, there was a decrease in metabolic activity upon the accumulation of TBARS, and the decline in enzyme activity was observed in the saturation phase of Ni accumulation (8-24 h). These results show that a correlation exists between the protective response and the apparent kinetic rate of Ni uptake. Thus, the time of exposure to the toxicant is a crucial factor in the activation of specific mechanisms of Ni detoxification and stress alleviation.

Responses of Lemna trisulca L. (Duckweed) exposed to low doses of cadmium: thiols, metal binding complexes, and photosynthetic pigments as sensitive biomarkers of ecotoxicity.

Lemna species are reported to accumulate a variety of metals from contaminated/polluted sites. Cadmium is a nonessential element for plant metabolism. In this work, we aimed to investigate physiological responses to low doses of cadmium (up to 100 microM). From exposure to the lowest Cd concentration (1 microM) to the highest (100 microM), photosynthetic pigments (Chl a, b, carotenoids) and the ratios of Chl a/b, Chl (a + b)/carotenoids decreased as a function of the Cd dose. The content of soluble proteins decreased in a dose-dependent manner, while total soluble thiols drastically increased. In Cd-treated fronds, the dose-dependent accumulation of a polypeptide with an apparent molecular weight of 24 kDa, as well as the appearance of two smaller polypeptides with molecular weights <6.5 kDa, was observed in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Our results show that in Lemna trisulca, different adaptative mechanisms may be involved in counterbalancing low and high doses of a particular toxicant (cadmium). This feature makes this plant potentially useful material in biomonitoring and phytotoxicity testing.

Identification and characterization of Cd-induced peptides in Egeria densa (water weed): Putative role in Cd detoxification.

Egeria densa has ability to grow in heavy metal contaminated and polluted bodies of water. Shoots exposed to Cd at concentrations up to 300microM for 7 days showed a pronounced decrease in chlorophyll a and in total protein concentration. Thiol-containing compounds and low-molecular-weight polypeptides were detected in Cd-treated plant extracts by gel filtration chromatography. Two Cd-binding fractions, a thiol-enriched fraction and a non-thiol fraction with a lower molecular weight were identified in extracts by gel filtration. The main fraction of thiol-containing polypeptide, purified by gel filtration and anion-exchange chromatography had a molecular weight of approximately 10kDa. This peptide was characterized by a broad absorption band specific to mercaptide bonds and Cd-sensitive fluorescence emission of aromatic amino acid residues. Our results indicate that cadmium exposure of plants resulted in both a formation of thiol-enriched cadmium complexing peptides and a synthesis of low-molecular-weight metal chelators. The putative role of these compounds in Cd detoxification is discussed.

Ecophysiological tolerance of Elodea canadensis to nickel exposure.

Biological accumulation of nickel and concomitant ecophysiological responses were studied in the leaves of Elodea canadensis treated with different concentrations of Ni (1-50 microM) for 5d. In low concentrations nickel was accumulated mainly in the soluble protein fraction, which correlated with its highest observed accumulation coefficient. In higher concentrations, Ni binding in the non-protein soluble fraction was observed. The effects of increasing nickel concentrations on the accumulation of photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange rates, lipid peroxidation, biosynthesis of thiol-containing compounds and the activity of selected enzymes--markers of oxidative stress were investigated. The appearance of several new polypeptides with apparent molecular weights below 20 kDa, was found by SDS-PAGE in Ni-treated Elodea leaves. Our results indicate that Ni, in concentrations up to 10 microM could induce sub-lethal oxidative stress in Elodea leaves. In response, plants developed detoxification mechanisms including an enhanced biosynthesis of thiol-containing compounds which facilitated Ni accumulation and sequestration in plant tissues effectively. Hence, E. canadensis could be used in the biological removal of Ni from polluted water up to 10 microM concentration.