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Silicon reduces aluminum accumulation and mitigates toxic effects in cowpea plants

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Abstract

Aluminum (Al) is the third most abundant metal in the Earth’s surface, and Al toxicity promotes several negative effects in plant metabolism. Silicon (Si) is the second most common mineral in soil and is considered a beneficial element for plants, improving their tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The aim of this study is to determine whether Si can reduce the accumulation of Al, explain the possible contribution of Si in mitigating Al toxicity, and indicate the better Si dose–response for cowpea plants. The experiment had a factorial design with two levels of aluminum (0 and 10 mM Al) and three levels of silicon (0, 1.25 and 2.50 mM Si). The utilization of Si in plants exposed to Al toxicity contributed to significant reductions in the Al contents of all tissues, corresponding to reductions of 51, 29 and 41% in roots, stems and leaves, respectively, upon treatment with 2.50 mM Si + 10 mM Al compared to the control treatment (0 mM Si + 10 mM Al). Al toxicity promoted decreases in ΦPSII, qP and ETR, whereas 2.50 mM Si induced increases of 54, 185 and 29%, respectively. Plants exposed to Al had lower values of P N, WUE and P N/C i, whereas Si application at a concentration of 2.50 mM yielded improvements of 53, 32 and 67%, respectively. Al exposure increased SOD, CAT, APX and POX activities, whereas treatment with 2.50 mM Si + 10 mM Al produced significant variations of 72, 97, 48 and 32%, respectively, compared to 0 mM Si + 10 mM Al. Our results proved that Si reduced the Al contents in all tissues. Si also improved the photochemical efficiency of PSII, gas exchange, pigments and antioxidant enzymes, contributing to a reduction in the accumulation of oxidative compounds. These benefits corroborate the multiple roles exercised by Si in metabolism and reveal that Si immobilizes the Al in roots and reduce the accumulation of this metal in other organs, mitigating the damage caused by Al in cowpea plants. In relation to dose–response, plants exposed to 1.25 mM Si without Al presented better results in terms of growth, whereas the toxic effects of plants exposed to Al were mitigated with 2.50 mM Si.

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Abbreviations

ΦPSII :

Effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

Al:

Aluminium

AsA:

Ascorbate

Ca:

Calcium

CAR:

Carotenoids

Chla :

Chlorophyll a

Chlb :

Chlorophyll b

C i :

Intercellular CO2 concentration

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

E :

Transpiration rate

EL:

Electrolyte leakage

ETR:

Electron transport rate

ETR/P N :

Ratio between the apparent electron transport rate and net photosynthetic rate

EXC:

Relative energy excess at the PSII level

Fe:

Iron

F m :

Maximal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state

F 0 :

Minimal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state

F v :

Variable fluorescence

F v/F m :

Maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

g s :

Stomatal conductance

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

K:

Potassium

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

Mg:

Magnesium

Mn:

Manganese

NPQ:

Nonphotochemical quenching

O2 − :

Superoxide

P N :

Net photosynthetic rate

P N/C i :

Instantaneous carboxylation efficiency

PSII:

Photosystem II

qP :

Photochemical quenching

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

RUBISCO:

ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

Si:

Silicon

Total Chl:

Total chrolophyll

WUE:

Water-use efficiency

Zn:

Zinc

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Acknowledgements

This research had financial supports from Fundação Amazônia de Amparo a Estudos e Pesquisas (FAPESPA/Brazil), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq/Brazil) and Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA/Brazil) to Lobato AKS. While Jesus LR was supported by graduate scholarship from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES/Brazil).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Núcleo de Pesquisa Vegetal Básica e Aplicada, Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia, Rodovia PA 256, Paragominas, Pará, Brazil

    Lucélia Rosa de Jesus & Allan Klynger da Silva Lobato

  2. Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil

    Bruno Lemos Batista

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  1. Lucélia Rosa de Jesus
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  2. Bruno Lemos Batista
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  3. Allan Klynger da Silva Lobato
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Correspondence to Allan Klynger da Silva Lobato.

Additional information

Communicated by J. Kovacik.

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11738_2017_2435_MOESM1_ESM.jpg

Supplementary material 1 (JPEG 11231 kb)Supplementary material 1. Greenhouse constructed in polycarbonate with temperature and humidity controlled (A), seedling emergence (B) seedling of cowpea (C) Jesus LR (author) changing nutritive solution (D), plants into greenhouse (E) and Lobato AKS (advisor) with other students (F). All image were not edited.

11738_2017_2435_MOESM2_ESM.jpg

Supplementary material 2 (JPEG 7819 kb) Supplementary material 2. Top view (A), side view (C) and leaf (E) from plants without Al and top view (B), side view (D) and leaf (F) from plants with 10 mM Al. All image were not edited.

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de Jesus, L.R., Batista, B.L. & da Silva Lobato, A.K. Silicon reduces aluminum accumulation and mitigates toxic effects in cowpea plants. Acta Physiol Plant 39, 138 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-017-2435-4

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