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Cadmium impairs iron homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana by increasing the polysaccharide contents and the iron-binding capacity of root cell walls

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Abstract

Background and aims

Iron (Fe) deficiency is a well-known symptom of cadmium (Cd) toxicity. Here, the mechanisms underlying Cd impairment of Fe homeostasis in Arabidopsis were investigated.

Methods

Arabidopsis plants were subjected to 0 (CK) or 10 μM Cd treatments. After the treatments period, Fe concentrations, expression levels of Fe uptake- and translocation-related genes, polysaccharide concentrations, pectin methylesterase activities (PME) and the degree of pectin methylation (DM) were analyzed.

Results

Fe concentrations in Cd-treated plants were lower in shoots, but higher in roots, especially in the root apoplasts, compared with the CK, and their leaves developed Fe-deficiency-like symptoms. However, Cd stimulated the root’s Fe uptake activity and the expression of genes involved in Fe acquisition. In both treatments, the citrate concentrations and expression levels of Fe translocation-related gene were comparable. The Cd treatment significantly increased pectin and hemicelluloses concentrations in cell walls, while significantly decreased the DM by increasing the PME activity, which led to a higher binding capacity of the cell wall to Fe.

Conclusions

The Cd-induced Fe accumulation in roots is mediated by increasing polysaccharide concentrations and decreasing the DM, which increases the Fe retention in roots and hampers its translocation to shoots.

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Abbreviations

Cd:

Cadmium

Fe:

Iron

PME:

Pectin methylesterase

DM:

Degree of methyl-esterification

FCR:

Ferric chelate reductase

IRT1:

Iron-regulated transporter 1

FRO2:

Ferric reductase oxidase 2

FRD3:

Ferric reductase defective 3

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Acknowledgments

The work is supported by the fund of the National Science and Technology Supporting Project (2007BAD07B03) and the Fujian Provincial Science and Technology Platform Construction Project (2008 N2001). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Forestry Administration Engineering Research Center of Chinese Fir, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Shan Shan Xu & Si Zu Lin

  2. College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Shan Shan Xu & Si Zu Lin

  3. Institute of Horticultural Biotechnology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Shan Shan Xu & Zhong Xiong Lai

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  1. Shan Shan Xu
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Correspondence to Si Zu Lin or Zhong Xiong Lai.

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Responsible Editor: Jian Feng Ma.

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Fig. S1

Effects of cadmium (Cd) exposure on the citrate content (a) in xylem sap and the expression of AtFRD3 (b) in Arabidopsis roots. Five-week-old seedlings were treated with (Cd) or without (CK) 10 μM Cd for 6 days, and the xylem sap were collected and the root were harvested for analysis. Error bars represent ± SD (n = 5). Asterisk indicates that the mean values are significantly different between CK and Cd treatments at P < 0.05 (*) according to Student’s t-test. ns indicates not significant. (DOCX 468 kb)

Fig. S2

Effects of cadmium (Cd) exposure on Cu (a), Zn (b), Mn (c), and Cd (d) concentrations in Arabidopsis roots and shoots. Five-week-old seedlings were treated with (Cd) or without (CK) 10 μM Cd for 6 days, then the plants were harvested for analysis. Error bars represent ± SD (n = 5). Asterisks indicate that the mean values are significantly different between CK and Cd treatments at P < 0.01 (**) according to Student’s t-test. ns indicates not significant, nd indicates not detected. (DOCX 250 kb)

Fig. S3

Effects of cadmium (Cd) exposure on the ratios of the total shoot to root copper (Cu) (a) and zinc (Zn) (b) contents in Arabidopsis. Five-week-old seedlings were treated with (Cd) or without (CK) 10 μM Cd for 6 days, then the plants were harvested for analysis. Error bars represent ± SD (n = 5). Asterisks indicate that the mean values are significantly different between CK and Cd treatments at P < 0.01 (**) according to Student’s t-test. (DOCX 621 kb)

Fig. S4

Effects of cadmium (Cd) exposure on the nitric oxide (NO) levels in Arabidopsis roots. NO production shown as green fluorescence in roots of Arabidopsis plants under CK and Cd treatment, respectively (a), NO production expressed as relative fluorescence (b). Five-week-old seedlings were treated with (Cd) or without (CK) 10 μM Cd for 6 days, then root were harvested for analysis. Error bars represent ± SD (n = 10). Asterisks indicate that the mean values are significantly different between CK and Cd treatments at P < 0.01 (**) according to Student’s t-test. (DOCX 71 kb)

Fig. S5

The kinetics of Fe adsorption of different cell wall components in Arabidopsis roots. Cell walls were extracted from 5-week-old seedlings treated with 10 μM Cd for 6 days. Then, cell walls were fractioned into different residue for the kinetics analysis. Cell wall-pectin indicates pectin was removed from the cell wall; cell wall-pectin-HC1 indicates both pectin and hemicllulose 1 (HC1) were removed from the cell wall; and cell wall-pectin-HC1-HC2 indicates pectin, hemicllulose 1 and hemicllulose 2 (HC2) were removed from the cell walls (for detail see Materials and Methods). (DOCX 346 kb)

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Xu, S.S., Lin, S.Z. & Lai, Z.X. Cadmium impairs iron homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana by increasing the polysaccharide contents and the iron-binding capacity of root cell walls. Plant Soil 392, 71–85 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2443-3

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