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Magnesium promotes root growth and increases aluminum tolerance via modulation of nitric oxide production in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Background and aims

Aluminum (Al) toxicity and magnesium (Mg) deficiency often coexist in acidic soils. Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in diverse physiological processes and stress responses. Here, we investigated the role of NO in Mg-mediated root growth promotion and Al tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Methods

Physiological and pharmacological methods together with molecular and genetic analyses were used.

Results

Al toxicity- and Mg deficiency-induced NO production contributed to inhibition of primary root growth. In contrast, Mg supply promoted root growth associated with decreasing NO production under Al stress and/or Mg deficiency conditions. Magnesium decreased the activities and expression of the genes related to NO biosynthesis enzymes in Col-0 roots. The NO-associated protein 1 mutant noa1 and the nitrate reductase mutant nia1nia2 with impaired NO production showed Al toxicity- and Mg deficiency-insensitive phenotypes, further confirming involvement of NO in Mg-mediated root growth promotion and alleviation of Al toxicity.

Conclusions

Taken together, our results suggested that Mg-mediated enhancement of root growth and Al tolerance is associated with altering NO production in Arabidopsis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Hans Lambers for his critical comments on our manuscript. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31960624, 31660595, 31501832 and 31360340), Science and Technology Project of Yunnan province (2017FB063 and 2015FB121). Zed Rengel was supported by Australian Research Council (DP160104434).

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Author notes

  1. Dongxu Li and Wenna Ma contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Jingming South Road, Kunming, 650500, China

    Dongxu Li, Wenna Ma, Jian Wei, Yawen Mao, Zhongping Peng, Jiarong Zhang, Xiangying Kong, Qinqin Han, Ye Yang, Xiuming Cui & Qi Chen

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Plant Resources and Sustainable Use, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650023, China

    Yawen Mao & Jianghua Chen

  3. College of Resources and Environment, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China

    Wei Fan

  4. International Magnesium Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Liangquan Wu

  5. UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Zed Rengel

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  1. Dongxu Li
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Contributions

Qi Chen conceived and designed the study, analyzed the data, interpreted the results, wrote and revised the manuscript. Dongxu Li performed most of the experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. Wenna Ma, Jian Wei, Yawen Mao, Zhongping Peng, Jiarong Zhang, Xiangying Kong and Qinqin Han performed the experiments and provided technical assistance. Wei Fan, Ye Yang and Liangquan Wu analyzed the data and commented on the writing of the manuscript. Zed Rengel, Jianghua Chen and Xiuming Cui analyzed the data and revised the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qi Chen.

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Li, D., Ma, W., Wei, J. et al. Magnesium promotes root growth and increases aluminum tolerance via modulation of nitric oxide production in Arabidopsis. Plant Soil 457, 83–95 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04274-9

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