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The influence of iron plaque on the absorption, translocation and transformation of mercury in rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings exposed to different mercury species

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Abstract

Background and aims

Iron plaque can affect the absorption and accumulation of metal(loid)s in plants. However, it is still unclear whether iron plaque plays different roles in the accumulation of different mercury species in rice plants. The aims of this study are 1) to explore the adsorption of IHg and MeHg onto iron plaque, 2) to investigate the influence of iron plaque on the absorption, translocation of IHg and MeHg in rice plants, 3) to explore whether the process of methylation and demethylation of Hg in vivo occurs in rice plants, and 4) to investigate the effects of iron plaque on the IHg and MeHg transformation in rice.

Methods

The seedlings were cultivated in an Fe2+ solution for 24 h to induce the iron plaque and then transferred into a nutrient solution containing 500 μg/L HgCl2 or MeHgCl for 72 h. The Hg content in the iron plaque and rice seedlings was measured by ICP-MS. The chemical forms of Hg in the rice seedlings were determined with HPLC-ICP-MS and XANES.

Results

Both IHg and MeHg, particularly MeHg, could be adsorbed by iron plaque. The IHg content of the root and the MeHg content in both the roots and shoots decreased markedly with the increase in iron plaque. The Hg in the root was mainly in the form of RS-Hg-SR with the exposure to HgCl2 and in the form of CH3-Hg-SR and RS-Hg-SR (4:1) with the exposure to MeHgCl. The iron plaque did not change the chemical forms of Hg in the rice plants.

Conclusions

Iron plaque greatly decreased the absorption and translocation of both IHg and MeHg in rice seedlings. The demethylation of MeHg occurred in rice plants (in vivo) regardless the formation of iron plaque. This work sheds some light on the understanding of different pathways between IHg and MeHg in rice plants.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21377129, 21407150, U1432241). We thank all the staff at BL15U (SSRF) and BL1W1B (BSRF) for their assistance during the SRXRF and XAS measurements and data processing. Y-F Li gratefully acknowledges the support from the K. C. Wong Education Foundation, Hong Kong, and the CAS Youth Innovation Association, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, and Laboratory of Metallomics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yunyun Li, Jiating Zhao, Bowen Zhang, Yongjie Liu, Xiaohan Xu, Yu-Feng Li, Bai Li, Yuxi Gao & Zhifang Chai

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yunyun Li & Xiaohan Xu

  3. Department of Basic Medicine, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, 014010, China

    Bowen Zhang

  4. Forestry College, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi, 030801, China

    Yongjie Liu

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  1. Yunyun Li
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Correspondence to Yuxi Gao.

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Li, Y., Zhao, J., Zhang, B. et al. The influence of iron plaque on the absorption, translocation and transformation of mercury in rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings exposed to different mercury species. Plant Soil 398, 87–97 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2627-x

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