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Evaluating the effect of EDTA on the internal mechanisms of uptake and translocation of Pb in Bidens pilosa L

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Abstract

Background and aims

Chelates like ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) have frequently been applied for facilitating lead (Pb) phytoextraction and cleaning contaminated soils but without detailed report regarding the internal mechanisms happening in plants in response to EDTA addition. This study examined the effect of EDTA on Pb accumulation in Bidens pilosa L., focusing on how EDTA modulates Pb uptake and transport in plants.

Methods

B. pilosa L. was cultured in the environment of ionic Pb and Pb-EDTA complexes. The localization of Pb in the tissues and subcellular fractions of B. pilosa L. was investigated by micro X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) and subcellular extraction experiment, respectively. The speciation of Pb in B. pilosa L. was identified by X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES).

Results

The application 2.5 mM EDTA greatly enhanced Pb translocation from roots to leaves, with a translocation factor up to 2.43. Micro-XRF imaging revealed that EDTA decreased Pb retention in the meristem zone of root apex and the junction of lateral root zone. Subcellular extraction found that EDTA increased the water-soluble Pb fraction in plant cells by 4–39%, thereby enhancing Pb translocation in plant vascular bundles. XANES analysis further demonstrated that Pb was largely present as stable Pb-phosphate and Pb-cellulose complexes in Pb-only treatment, whereas Pb was mainly present as soluble Pb-EDTA (48.9–74.2%) in Pb and EDTA co-treatment.

Conclusions

The results indicate that the EDTA-enhanced apoplastic flow pathway and internal mobility of Pb together provide a twofold mechanism for facilitating Pb phytoextraction in B. pilosa L. under EDTA addition.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0600603), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41877505, 41201527, and 20775018), and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2007AA06Z124). The Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility is thanked for provision of beam time at beamlines 15U1 and 14W1. We thank Dr. Xiaoyan Sun, Dr. Changling Lao, Yufang Song, Menghe Sun and chengfei Fu for their support during the greenhouse and XANES experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Jian Liu: Investigation, Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing. Yating Shen: Conceptualization, Writing-review & editing, Validation, Supervision, Funding acquisition. Liqiang Luo: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yating Shen.

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Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible Editor: Juan Barcelo.

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Liu, J., Shen, Y. & Luo, L. Evaluating the effect of EDTA on the internal mechanisms of uptake and translocation of Pb in Bidens pilosa L. Plant Soil 479, 649–662 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05552-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05552-9

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