Barley plant response to cadmium action as dependent on plant age

Abstract

Age dependent differences in the responses of 3 day old (the phase of seed germination) and 7 day old (the phase of seedlings) of barley (Hordeum vulgare L., cv. Zazerskii 85) plants to treatment with cadmium (100 µM). Four day long exposure to the cadmium solution retarded root growth and suppression of the photosynthetic apparatus in germinating seeds, whereas in seedlings, the roots continued to grow actively and parameters characterizing functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus were close to control val ues. In the presence of cadmium, in the roots of plants the level of HvPCS gene encoding phytochelatin syn thase and the content of phytochelatins (PC) increased independently of the plant age. Distinctly, changes in the content of reduced glutathione (GSH) depended on the plant age: in 3 day old seedlings the content of GSH reduced after 40 day long exposure to cadmium; in contrast, in 7 day old plants, it increased. We con cluded that differences in the tolerance to cadmium of plants differing in age are related to their anatomic, morphological, physiological, and biochemical properties corresponding to particular developmental stages and also to differences in functioning of different mechanisms of metal detoxification, in particular, to acti vation of GSH synthesis and a great increase in the content of PC in the older plants.

The resistance of plants Setaria veridis (L.) Beauv. to the influence of cadmium

“…It was found that, for example, in the leaves of maize (С 4 plant), the total content of PCs after a week of treatment with cadmium (50 µM) was nearly 7 times higher than that of wheat, and 8 times higher than that of rye, which belong to the group of С 3 plants (Wójcik and Tukendorf, 1999). In our previ ous experiments (Kaznina et al, 2012) in barley plants (C3 type) under the action of cadmium (100 µM), the content of PCs in leaves was also lower than the amount of thiols observed in foxtail in this study. With what such significant differences can be associated and whether they are present in all cases has yet to be determined.…”

Effect of cadmium and arsenic on chlorophyll fluorescence of selected soybean cultivars

“…Many studies have attempted to clarify the mechanism of heavy metal and metalloid toxicity in plants [2][3][4][5]. However, relationships between growth inhibition and physiological processes under these conditions are still discussed, mainly because of the fact that the threshold of heavy metal/metalloid injury as well as the tolerance to an excess of these elements are highly dependent on the plant species and cultivars [6].…”

“…Dynamics of structure and function in growing tissues also result in very different responses to stress in the leaves at particular developmental stages [7]. Spa-tial distribution has been documented for chlorophyll and protein content [4,8], accumulation of defense components [2] as well as for activity of vacuolar H + -ATPase [4]. Tissue and age-dependent differences in the complexation of cadmium and zinc were observed in Thlaspi caerulescens [9].…”

Phenylpropanoid 2,3-dioxygenase involved in the cleavage of the ferulic acid side chain to form vanillin and glyoxylic acid in Vanilla planifolia

“…the most abundant non-protein thiol compound widely distributed in living organisms. 24) In plants, the content of GSH is, for example, 0.5 μmol/g FW in barley leaf (Hordeum vulgare), 25) 6.0 μmol/g FW in winter rape (Brassica napus) 26) and 0.65 μmol/g FW in cucumber leaf (Cucumis sativus) 27) and other vegetables. 28) β-Carotene 15,15′-dioxygenase activity also depends on SHreagents such as DTT and GSH.…”