Does slow and steady win the race? Root growth dynamics of Arabidopsis halleri ecotypes in soils with varying trace metal element contamination

Diversity and activity of soil biota at a post‐mining site highly contaminated with Zn and Cd are enhanced by metallicolous compared to non‐metallicolousArabidopsis halleriecotypes

“…group. Indeed, Zn hyperaccumulation and tolerance seem to be negatively related in A. halleri, and lower Zn tolerance in NM plants was previously reported in controlled phenotyping experiments(Bert et al, 2000;Dietrich et al, 2019;Meyer et al, 2010). Our findings from the natural field conditions suggest that despite the constitutive Zn tolerance in A. halleri, lower growth and survival of NM plants that…”

“…Overall, growth and survival of NM plants were reduced compared to M ecotype, suggesting higher Zn tolerance in the latter group. Indeed, Zn hyperaccumulation and tolerance seem to be negatively related in A. halleri , and lower Zn tolerance in NM plants was previously reported in controlled phenotyping experiments (Bert et al, 2000; Dietrich et al, 2019; Meyer et al, 2010). Our findings from the natural field conditions suggest that despite the constitutive Zn tolerance in A. halleri , lower growth and survival of NM plants that had been transplanted to M soil can be attributed to increased energy that a NM plan needs to spend to counterbalance potentially toxic effects of elevated Zn concentrations, both in metalliferous soil and internally.…”

Zinc allocation to and within Arabidopsis halleri seeds: Different strategies of metal homeostasis in accessions under divergent selection pressure

“…The increased Zn uptake of A. halleri plants at the NM_PL14 site may also be associated with the ability of roots to forage for additional Zn through shifts in root architecture, which is driven by the high internal demand for Zn in this species. A recent rhizobox‐based study demonstrated that NM A. halleri produced deeper‐reaching and wider roots when grown in non‐metalliferous compared to metalliferous substrate (Dietrich et al., 2019 ). The benefits of Zn concentrations in plant tissues when roots explore a greater soil volume has already been shown in short‐term uptake experiments on transgenic plants grown under Zn deficient conditions (Ramesh et al., 2004 ).…”

“…Indeed, a recent study by Dietrich et al (in review) demonstrated that A. halleri accumulated more Zn in shoots at the NM_PL14 location than the majority of accessions studied in field investigations at the European scale, including metalliferous sites (Frérot et al, 2018;Stein et al, 2017 (Dietrich et al, 2019). The benefits of Zn concentrations in plant tissues when roots explore a greater soil volume has already been shown in short-term uptake experiments on transgenic plants grown under Zn deficient conditions (Ramesh et al, 2004).…”

“…This replacement of elements interferes with several biochemical, physiological, and structural aspects of plant processes, with adverse effects on photosynthesis, metabolism and plant growth (Dubey et al., 2018 ; Szopiński et al., 2019 ; Van Assche & Clijsters, 1986 , 1990 ). In particular, excess Zn has frequently been shown to modify the root system architecture of plants (Dietrich et al., 2019 ), cause leaf chlorosis associated with the decline of photosystem II efficiency parameters (Balafrej et al., 2020 ), or induce reactive oxygen species generation (Fernàndez et al., 2012 ). The first essential pool of Zn in a plant's life cycle is seed Zn, which is mobilized in the growing seedling.…”