Heavy Metal-induced Cuticular Alkane Changes of Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea) Plantlets

Abstract

Heavy metal pollution of ecosystems is of great concern, due to the persistence of metals in ecosystem. In this regard, the mountainous pastures of Romanian Carpathians, especially those in the areas of abandoned mines, need particular attention. The aim of this work was to assess the effect of heavy metals and metalloids exposure on cuticular wax composition of tall fescue leaves (Festuca arundinacea). Therefore, we have particularly investigated the variations of long chain hydrocarbon fractions, which are acknowledged to act as a protection for plants especially in toxic environments. The exposure experiments were conducted in triplicates for arsenic and the following metal ions: Ba2+, Cu2+, Fe2+ and Pb2+. The 0.5 mM aqueous solutions of their corresponding salts were used as treatment solutions. Triplicate experiments were also performed for control samples using distilled water as exposure media. The plantlets were kept for growing in controlled environment for 15 days followed by n-hexane hydrocarbon fraction extraction from 0.5 g of sampled leaves. The obtained extracts were semi-quantitatively analyzed (identification followed by peak area measurement) through an optimized method based on gas-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. We focused on the measurement of several long chain n-alkanes with the following number of carbon atoms: C21-C31. Significant differences were obtained between results performed for Ba2+, Pb2+ and Fe2+, when compared to AsO43- and Cu2+, which may suggest multiple mechanisms through which the tested plants could develop and adapt when exposed to various chemicals characterized by different degrees of toxicity.

NAP Neuroprotective Peptide and its Analogs: Simultaneously Copper and Iron Binding and Reduction

“…In this study we showed that two noxious metal ions can bind to anti-amyloid peptides. Heavy metals, including copper and iron, are environmental contaminants that cannot be degraded or destroyed [10,29]. Their biological effect differs from that of organic pollutants such as dinitrophenols [30,31].…”

“…Thus, altered metal homeostasis can be one of the factors causing those disorders. Besides, redox active metals such as cooper and iron carry pro-oxidant properties that induce oxidative stress by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) [9,10]. Most of the reactions involving redox active metals are related to Fenton chemistry that includes a series of reactions that initiates with hydrogen peroxide and leads to the formation of highly unstable radicals that affect biological macromolecules [5].…”

Tarnita Polluted Area: Accumulation of Heavy Metals and Nutrients from the Soil by Woody Species

“…Important changes in the concentration of cuticular alkane of tall fescue plants (Festuca arundinacea) induced by the presence of heavy metal ions was also recently reported [4]. These authors showed that multiple mechanisms may exist through which the tested plants could develop and adapt when exposed to various chemicals characterized by different degrees of toxicity.…”

“…These authors showed that multiple mechanisms may exist through which the tested plants could develop and adapt when exposed to various chemicals characterized by different degrees of toxicity. Thus, significant differences were observed between the * emails: carmeniacoban@ymail.com, darjailieva@abv.bg, gabidr@uaic.ro results from Ba 2+ , Pb 2+ and Fe 2+ and those with AsO 4 3and Cu 2+ , and these ions are characterized by different degrees of toxicity. However, most of heavy metal ions react with thiol-containing peptides and proteins, which may protect the cells against metal toxicity [5].…”

Synthesis of Different Analogs of Ab(9-16) Peptide Mass spectrometric evidence for heavy metal binding

“…Oxidative stress is an important aspect of this pathology and is one of the first signs of Alzheimer's disease. However, its exact role of ROS in AD is not known, it still unclear what is the initial source of oxidation stress in AD, and a supposition says it could be related to redox-active metals such as copper or iron [2,3]. Is known that numerous effects of oxidative stress causes the appearance of ROS [4].…”