Abstract
Flavodoxins are electron carrier flavoproteins that are involved in the response to oxidative stress in bacteria and cyanobacteria. Recently, we obtained Sinorhizobium meliloti bacteria that overexpressed a flavodoxin from the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis [Redondo et al. (2009) Plant Physiology 149:1166–1178]. In the present work, tolerance to cadmium was evaluated in free-living transformed S. meliloti and in alfalfa plants nodulated by the flavodoxin-overexpressing rhizobia, in comparison with plants nodulated by wild-type bacteria. Overexpression of flavodoxin protected free-living S. meliloti from cadmium toxicity and had a positive effect on nitrogen fixation of alfalfa plants subjected to cadmium stress. Flavodoxin notably reduced cadmium-induced structural and ultrastructural alterations in alfalfa nodules. Putative protection mechanisms in flavodoxin-overexpressing nodules are discussed. Flavodoxin could have applications as a biotechnological tool to improve the symbiotic performance of alfalfa and other legumes in cadmium polluted soils.
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Abbreviations
- Cd:
-
cadmium
- Fld:
-
flavodoxin
- GSH:
-
reduced glutathione
- GSSG:
-
oxidized glutathione
- ROS:
-
reactive oxygen species
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Comunidad de Madrid grants S-0505/AMB/0321 and S-0505/AMB/0335, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and the European Social Fund (postdoctoral contract to A.M.R.), the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, Fundación Areces and Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (grants to J.J.P.). A. Shvaleva was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (sabbatical contract N 2004–0011). The authors thank F. Pinto, M. I. Menéndez and S. Fajardo for technical assistance.
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Alla Shvaleva, Teodoro Coba de la Peña. These authors have equally contributed to this work
M. Mercedes Lucas, José J. Pueyo. These authors have equally contributed to this work
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Shvaleva, A., Coba de la Peña, T., Rincón, A. et al. Flavodoxin overexpression reduces cadmium-induced damage in alfalfa root nodules. Plant Soil 326, 109–121 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-9985-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-9985-1