Identification of the primary lesion of toxic aluminum (Al) in plant roots
Today soil-resources provide 99.7% of human food but in the last 40 year one third of the global arable land has already been lost due to degradation. The continuing degradation of arable soils is an issue of critical importance for maintaining food security of the very fast increasing of human population. |
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Figure 2. Distribution of Al using LEXRF in a 7 μm-thick transverse section of a soybean root 6 mm from the apex (i.e. elongation zone) after exposure to 30 μM Al for 24 h. The signal intensity is shown as a color scale with brighter colors indicating higher concentration. Both (a) and (b) show the distribution of Al, but a logarithmic scale is used to represent the colors in (a) in order to more clearly show the distribution of the lower concentrations of Al in the inner tissues. In (b) a linear scale is used to represent the colors. For (c), the map for Al is overlaid with the map for absorption. Note that the root has ruptured and hence the rhizodermis and outer cortex are torn.
Our findings clearly show that the accumulation of Al is rather rapid process and Al remains concentrated in the cell walls with exposure time. The binding of Al to the cell walls exerts toxic effects, leading to inhibition of cell elongation and growth. The results clearly indicate that for overcoming the deleterious effects of Al it is important to focus on traits related to cell wall composition as well as traits involved in wall loosening.
This research was conducted with the contribution of the Elettra Scientific Computing Team and was lead by the research team of Dr Peter M Kopittke in collaboration with the University of Oxford and the University of South Australia.
This research was conducted by the following research team:
- Peter M Kopittke, Brett J. Ferguson, F. Pax C. Blamey, Neal W. Menzies, Brigid A. McKenna, Peng Wang, Peter M. Gresshoff, Alina Tollenaere, The University of Queensland, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences,St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- Katie L Moore, University of Oxford, Department of Materials, Oxford, OX1 3PH, United Kingdom
- Enzo Lombi, University of South Australia, Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, Mawson Lakes, South Australia, Australia
- Alessandra Gianoncelli, George Kourousias, Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Trieste, Italy
- Timothy M. Nicholson,The University of Queensland, School of Chemical Engineering, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- Rick I. Webb, Kathryn Green, The University of Queensland, Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
Contact persons:
Alessandra Gianoncelli:
Peter M Kopittke:
George Kourousias:
Reference
Peter M. Kopittke, Katie L. Moore, Enzo Lombi, Alessandra Gianoncelli, Brett J. Ferguson, F. Pax C. Blamey, Neal W. Menzies, Timothy M. Nicholson, Brigid A. McKenna, Peng Wang, Peter M. Gresshoff, George Kourousias, Richard I. Webb, Kathryn Green, Alina Tollenaere, “Identification of the primary lesion of toxic aluminum (Al) in plant roots”, Plant Physiology 167, 1402 (2015) doi: 10.1104/pp.114.253229
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