Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of exogenous silicon addition on chromium uptake, growth, mineral elements, oxidative stress, antioxidant capacity, and leaf and root structures in rice seedlings exposed to hexavalent chromium

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Acta Physiologiae Plantarum Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hydroponic experiments were conducted to investigate the role of exogenous silicon (Si) addition in increasing hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) tolerance in rice seedlings. Rice seedlings were grown under 100 μM Cr(VI) stress without or with 10 μM Si. Chromium treatment decreased growth, photosynthetic pigments and protein, which was accompanied by a significant increase in Cr accumulation and lipid peroxidation (as malondialdehyde; MDA). However, Si addition alleviated Cr toxicity and promoted growth of rice by decreasing Cr accumulation, root-to-shoot Cr transport and MDA level. Contents of macro (Mg, Ca and K) as well as micronutrients (Zn and Fe) were decreased by Cr except Mn while Si addition prevented decrease in these nutrients induced by Cr. Antioxidant capacity and total phenolic contents were decreased by Cr while these indices improved by Si addition. Treatment of Cr decreased the length of leaf epidermal cells and stomatal frequency, and adversely affected chloroplasts containing mesophyll cells and integrity of xylem and phloem, and Si addition minimized these abnormalities. However, frequency of root hairs was increased by Cr treatment. Results showed that exogenous Si addition enhanced Cr(VI) tolerance in rice seedlings by decreasing Cr accumulation, root-to-shoot Cr transport and MDA level, and by increasing content of some mineral elements (K, Fe and Zn) and antioxidant capacity compared to the Cr treatment alone.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arditti J, Dunn A (1969) Environmental plant physiology—experiments in cellular and plant physiology. Rinehart and Winston Inc, Holt

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnon DI (1949) Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplasts. Polyphenoloxidase in Beta vulgaris. Plant Physiol 24:1–15

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brand Willimas W, Cuvelier ME, Berset C (1995) Use of a free radical method to evaluate antioxidant activity. LWT-Food Sci Tech 28:25–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandra P, Kulshreshtha K (2004) Chromium accumulation and toxicity in vascular plants. Bot Rev 70:313–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chérif M, Benhamou N, Menzies JG, Bélanger RR (1992) Silicon induced resistance in cucumber plants against Pythium ultimum. Physiol Mol Plant Pathol 41:411–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein E (1999) Silicon. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 50:641–664

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gangwar S, Singh VP (2011) Indole acetic acid differently changes growth and nitrogen metabolism in Pisum sativum L. seedlings under chromium (VI) phytotoxicity: Implication of oxidative stress. Sci Hortic 129:321–328

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gikas P, Romanos P (2006) Effects of tri-valent [Cr(III)] and hexa-valent chromium [Cr(VI)] on the growth of activated sludge. J Haz Mat 133:212–217

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heath RL, Packer L (1968) Photoperoxidation in isolated chloroplasts I. Kinetics and stoichiometry of fatty acid peroxidation. Arch Biochem Biophys 125:189–198

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hossain MT, Mori R, Wakabayashi KSK, Fujii SKS, Yamamoto R, Hoson T (2002) Growth promotion and an increase in cell wall extensibility by silicon in rice and some other Poaceae seedlings. J Plant Res 115:23–27

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ikan R (1969) Natural products. A laboratory guide. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy BM, Schelstraete M (1975) A note on silicon in rice endosperm. Am Assoc Cere Chem 52:854–856

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kotas J, Stasicka Z (2000) Chromium occurrence in the environment and methods of its speciation. Environ Poll 107:263–283

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liang YC, Wong JWC, Wei L (2005) Silicon-mediated enhancement of cadmium tolerance in maize (Zea mays L.) grown in cadmium contaminated soil. Chemosphere 58:475–483

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Ardo S, Bunning M, Parry J, Zhou K, Stushnoff C, Stoniker F, Yu L, Kendall P (2007) Total phenolic content and DPPH· radical scavenging activity of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown in Colorado. LWT Food Sci Tech 40:552–557

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lowry OH, Rosebrough NJ, Farr AL, Randall RJ (1951) Protein measurement with the folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem 193:265–275

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lux A, Luxová M, Hattori T, Inanaga S, Sugimoto Y (2002) Silicification in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) cultivars with different drought tolerance. Physiol Plant 115:87–92

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma JF, Tamai K, Yamaji N, Mitani N, Konishi S, Katsuhara M, Ishiguro M, Murata Y, Yano M (2006) A silicon transporter in rice. Nature 440:688–691

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marschner H (1999) Mineral Nutrition in Higher Plants. Academic Press, Harcourt B, Company Publishers, London

  • Moreira OC, Rios PF, Barrabin H (2005) Inhibition of plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase by Cr ATP. LaATP but not CrATP stabilizes the Ca2+-occluded state. BBA-Bioenergetics 1708:411–419

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan PW, Taylor DM, Joham HE (1976) Manipulations of IAA oxidase activity and auxin deficiency symptoms in intact cotton plants with manganese nutrition. Physiol Plant 37:149–156

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann D, zur Nieden U (2001) Silicon and heavy metal tolerance of higher plants. Phytochemistry 56:685–692

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nwugo CC, Huerta AJ (2008) Effects of silicon nutrition on cadmium uptake, growth and photosynthesis of rice plants exposed to low-level cadmium. Plant Soil 311:73–86

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peng Q, Zhou Q (2010) Effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on the distribution of mineral elements in soybean (Glycine max) seedlings. Chemosphere 78:859–863

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Savant NK, Korndörfer GH, Datnoff LE, Snyder GH (1999) Silicon nutrition and sugarcane production: a review. J Plant Nutr 22:1853–1903

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schiavon M, Pilon-Smits EAH, Wirtz M, Hell R, Malagoli M (2008) Interaction between chromium and sulfur metabolism in Brassica juncea. J Environ Qual 37:1536–1545

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shanker AK, Djanaguiraman M, Sudhagar R, Chandrashekar CN, Pathmanabhan G (2004) Differential antioxidative response of ascorbate glutathione pathway enzymes and metabolites to chromium speciation stress in green gram (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek. Cv CO 4) roots. Plant Sci 166:1035–1043

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sinha S, Singh S, Mallick S, Sinam G (2009) Role of antioxidants in Cr tolerance of three crop plants: metal accumulation in seeds. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 72:1111–1121

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swain T, Hillis WE (1959) The phenolic constituents of Prunus domestica.l.—the quantitative analysis of phenolic constituents. J Sci Food Agric 10:63–68

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Toor RK, Savage GP (2006) Changes in major antioxidant components of tomatoes during post-harvest storage. Food Chem 99:724–727

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vernay P, Gauthier-Moussard C, Hitmi A (2007) Interaction of bioaccumulation of heavy metal chromium with water relation, mineral nutrition and photosynthesis in developed leaves of Lolium perenne L. Chemosphere 68:1563–1575

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Wang W, Chen Q, Cao W, Li M, Zhang F (2000) Silicon-induced cadmium tolerance of rice seedlings. J Plant Nutr 23:1397–1406

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang YX, Stass A, Horst WJ (2004) Apoplastic binding of aluminum is involved in silicon-induced amelioration of aluminum. Plant Physiol 136:3762–3770

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yokel RA, Lasley SM, Dorman DC (2006) The speciation of metals in mammals influences their toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics and therefore human health risk assessment. J Toxicol Environ Health Part B Crit Rev 9:63–85

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang C, Wang L, Nie Q, Zhang W, Zhang F (2008) Long-term effects of exogenous silicon on cadmium translocation and toxicity in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Environ Exp Bot 62:300–307

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Authors are thankful to The Head, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad for providing laboratory facilities, and Dr. Devinder Kour, Centre of Food Technology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad for help in measuring parameters related to oxidative stress and antioxidants. Authors are also grateful to the University Grant Commission, New Delhi for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Palaeobotany and Morphology Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, 211002, India

    Durgesh Kumar Tripathi, Dharmendra Kumar & Devendra Kumar Chauhan

  2. Ranjan Plant Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, 211002, India

    Vijay Pratap Singh

Authors
  1. Durgesh Kumar Tripathi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vijay Pratap Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dharmendra Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Devendra Kumar Chauhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Devendra Kumar Chauhan.

Additional information

Communicated by J.-H. Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tripathi, D.K., Singh, V.P., Kumar, D. et al. Impact of exogenous silicon addition on chromium uptake, growth, mineral elements, oxidative stress, antioxidant capacity, and leaf and root structures in rice seedlings exposed to hexavalent chromium. Acta Physiol Plant 34, 279–289 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-011-0826-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-011-0826-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation