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Compartmentalization and ultrastructural alterations induced by chromium in aquatic macrophytes

BioMetals volume 24, pages 1017–1026 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to identify the sites of accumulation of Cr in the species of macrophytes that are abundant in the Cachoeira river, namely, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Borreria scabiosoides, Polygonum ferrugineum and Eichhornia crassipes. Plants were grown in nutritive solution supplemented with 0.25 and 50 mg l−1 of CrCl3·6H2O. Samples of plant tissues were digested with HNO3/HCl in a closed-vessel microwave system and the concentrations of Cr determined using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The ultrastructure of root, stem and leaf tissue was examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in order to determine the sites of accumulation of Cr and to detect possible alterations in cell organelles induced by the presence of the metal. Chromium accumulated principally in the roots of the four macrophytes (8.6–30 mg kg−1 dw), with much lower concentrations present in the stems and leaves (3.8–8.6 and 0.01–9.0 mg kg−1 dw, respectively). Within root tissue, Cr was present mainly in the vacuoles of parenchyma cells and cell walls of xylem and parenchyma. Alterations in the shape of the chloroplasts and nuclei were detected in A. philoxeroides and B. scabiosoides, suggesting a possible application of these aquatic plants as biomarkers from Cr contamination.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thanks Dr. Lionel Dutruch (Service Central d’Analyse, CNRS), and Drs. Ricardo Levi-Setti and Konstantin Gavrilov (Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago) for their kind assistance with ICP-MS and ion microscopy imaging. This research was supported by CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil).

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  1. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Centro de Microscopia Eletrônica, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Ilhéus-Itabuna km 16, Ilhéus, Bahia, 45662-900, Brazil

    Pedro A. Mangabeira, Aluane S. Ferreira, Alex-Alan F. de Almeida, Valéria F. Fernandes, Emerson Lucena, Vânia L. Souza, Alberto J. dos Santos Júnior, Arno H. Oliveira & Delmira C. Silva

  2. Service Central d’Analyse, CNRS, Echangeur de Solaize, Chemin du Canal, 69360, Solaize, France

    Marie F. Grenier-Loustalot & Fréderique Barbier

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  1. Pedro A. Mangabeira
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  2. Aluane S. Ferreira
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  3. Alex-Alan F. de Almeida
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  4. Valéria F. Fernandes
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Correspondence to Pedro A. Mangabeira.

Electronic supplementary material

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10534_2011_9459_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Supplementary Fig. 5. TEM electron micrographs of transversal sections of leaf, stem and root tissue of P. ferrugineum following treatment of plants with 50 mg l−1 Cr: a normal cell wall and normal chloroplast (cl) in a control leaf, bar 1 μm; b electron dense material (arrowed) in cell wall (cw) and vacuole (v) of leaf, bar 2 μm; c normal cell wall (cw) in a control stem, bar 2 μm; d Cr deposits (arrowed) in cell wall (cw) of stem, bar 2 μm; e Cr deposits (arrowed) in vacuole of root cell, bar 2 μm; f Cr deposits in cell wall (cw, arrowed) of root cell, bar 2 μm (DOC 4500 kb)

10534_2011_9459_MOESM2_ESM.doc

Supplementary Fig. 6. SIMS images of stem and root tissue of P. ferrugineum following treatment of plants with 50 mg l−1 Cr: a ISI of stem parenchyma; b Cr deposits in cell wall (cw) and vacuole (v) of stem parenchyma at a depth of 20 nm; c ISI of vessel element (ve) of root xylem; d Cr deposits in the vessel element (ve) of root xylem at a depth of 20 nm. (DOC 4431 kb)

10534_2011_9459_MOESM3_ESM.doc

Supplementary Fig. 7. TEM electron micrographs of transversal sections of leaf, stem and root tissue of E. crassipes following treatment of plants with 50 mg l−1 Cr: a electron-dense material (arrowed) in cell wall (cw) of leaf, bar 1 μm; b electron dense material (arrowed) in vacuole (v) and nucleus (n) of leaf, bar 5 μm; c Cr deposits (arrowed) in cell wall (cw) of leaf, bar 1 μm; d Cr deposits (arrowed) in vacuole and cell wall (cw) of vessel element (ve) of root, bar 2 μm; e Cr deposits (arrowed) in cell wall of vessel element of root xylem, bar 2 μm; f Cr deposits (arrowed) in vacuole (v) of root parenchyma, bar 10 μm (DOC 403 kb)

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Mangabeira, P.A., Ferreira, A.S., de Almeida, AA.F. et al. Compartmentalization and ultrastructural alterations induced by chromium in aquatic macrophytes. Biometals 24, 1017–1026 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-011-9459-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-011-9459-9

Keywords

  • Aquatic plants
  • Heavy metals
  • Chromium
  • Cell ultrastructure
  • Transmission electron microscopy
  • Secondary ion mass spectrometry