Abiotic stress priming affects the responses of maize （Zea mays） plants to cadmium stress

doi:10.11686/cyxb2023477

Abstract

Abstract:

Cadmium （Cd） pollution in arable land in China is becoming an increasingly serious problem. The aim of this study was to elucidate how various abiotic stresses prime the responses of maize （Zea mays） to Cd stress. On the one hand， abiotic stress priming that reduces Cd accumulation can be used to safeguard the quality of maize for consumption； on the other hand， abiotic stress priming that increases Cd accumulation in maize can be used to enhance phytoremediation efficiency when maize plants are grown in Cd-polluted soil. Maize seedlings were subjected to priming treatments for a short time. Drought， salt， and iron deficiency were used as cross-stress priming treatments， and a low dose of Cd was used as the same stress priming treatment. After the various stress treatments， the maize seedlings were subjected to Cd stress， and then their biomass， root morphology， tolerance index， Cd concentration， Cd accumulation， subcellular Cd distribution， and antioxidant defense capacity were determined. The application of iron deficiency， salt stress， and drought as stress priming treatments resulted in a reduction in the dry weight of maize roots， stems， and leaves. However， priming with these abiotic stresses significantly enhanced the tolerance indices of maize under Cd stress. Specifically， drought stress priming led to a decrease in the Cd concentration and accumulation in the roots， stems， and leaves of maize plants. Additionally， it promoted the localization of Cd in vacuoles. By contrast， priming with a low dosage of Cd enhanced Cd concentrations in roots and leaves and Cd accumulation in leaves， but did not alter the subcellular distribution of Cd. Priming with abiotic stresses did not significantly change the activities of superoxide dismutase， peroxidase， and catalase in the leaves and roots of maize plants under Cd stress， suggesting that abiotic stress priming does not stimulate the activities of antioxidant enzymes during the response to Cd stress in maize. Correlation analyses showed that total root length was closely correlated with Cd accumulation in maize. The total root length was affected by abiotic stress priming. Moreover， the Cd concentration in the leaf cell walls was positively correlated with Cd accumulation in maize. In contrast， the Cd concentration in vacuoles of root cells was negatively correlated with Cd accumulation in maize. Our results show that abiotic stress priming can significantly promote the Cd tolerance of maize， and that drought priming can decrease Cd accumulation in maize.

Key words: Cd accumulation, priming, abiotic stress, maize, antioxidant

Xiao-xiao LI, Pan ZHANG, Yuan LU, Ting LI, Na ZHAO, Jia-wen WU. Abiotic stress priming affects the responses of maize （Zea mays） plants to cadmium stress[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2024, 33(11): 135-148.

Figures/Tables 9

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处理 Treatment	总根长 Total root length （cm）	根表面积 Root surface area （cm²）	根体积 Root volume （cm³）	根尖数 Number of root tips	根直径 Root diameter （mm）
-Cd
CK	1819±404a	880±141a	244±88a	1674±230a	1.5±0.4ab
-Fe	1168±372b	573±194b	155±61b	1110±397bc	1.0±0.4b
Na	1093±307b	595±42b	171±45ab	1109±279bc	1.1±0.2b
PEG	1082±258b	704±128ab	223±45ab	984±129c	1.7±0.5a
Cdp	1525±243ab	660±128b	155±49b	1465±220ab	1.0±0.3b
+Cd
CK	945±141c	559±57a	169±54a	803±122c	1.3±0.3a
-Fe	1093±51bc	536±15a	131±12ab	1050±148bc	1.0±0.0ab
Na	1363±426ab	648±104a	149±48a	1220±386ab	1.1±0.4ab
PEG	849±120c	415±130b	85±39b	860±135c	0.8±0.4b
Cdp	1536±224a	646±20a	132±10ab	1434±252a	0.9±0.1ab
-Cd v.s. +Cd （P值P value）
CK	0.002**	0.005**	0.151ns	0.000***	0.466ns
-Fe	0.674ns	0.695ns	0.432ns	0.766ns	0.804ns
Na	0.287ns	0.337ns	0.491ns	0.618ns	0.936ns
PEG	0.119ns	0.007**	0.001***	0.176ns	0.010**
Cdp	0.947ns	0.815ns	0.371ns	0.838ns	0.317ns

处理 Treatment	总根长 Total root length （cm）	根表面积 Root surface area （cm²）	根体积 Root volume （cm³）	根尖数 Number of root tips	根直径 Root diameter （mm）
-Cd
CK	1819±404a	880±141a	244±88a	1674±230a	1.5±0.4ab
-Fe	1168±372b	573±194b	155±61b	1110±397bc	1.0±0.4b
Na	1093±307b	595±42b	171±45ab	1109±279bc	1.1±0.2b
PEG	1082±258b	704±128ab	223±45ab	984±129c	1.7±0.5a
Cdp	1525±243ab	660±128b	155±49b	1465±220ab	1.0±0.3b
+Cd
CK	945±141c	559±57a	169±54a	803±122c	1.3±0.3a
-Fe	1093±51bc	536±15a	131±12ab	1050±148bc	1.0±0.0ab
Na	1363±426ab	648±104a	149±48a	1220±386ab	1.1±0.4ab
PEG	849±120c	415±130b	85±39b	860±135c	0.8±0.4b
Cdp	1536±224a	646±20a	132±10ab	1434±252a	0.9±0.1ab
-Cd v.s. +Cd （P值P value）
CK	0.002**	0.005**	0.151ns	0.000***	0.466ns
-Fe	0.674ns	0.695ns	0.432ns	0.766ns	0.804ns
Na	0.287ns	0.337ns	0.491ns	0.618ns	0.936ns
PEG	0.119ns	0.007**	0.001***	0.176ns	0.010**
Cdp	0.947ns	0.815ns	0.371ns	0.838ns	0.317ns

组织 Organ	处理 Treatment	细胞壁 Cell wall	细胞器 Organelle	细胞可溶性部分 Cell soluble fraction
叶 Leaves	Cd	50.97±4.22a	11.23±0.98a	37.80±4.21bc
	-Fe+Cd	48.04±10.70a	12.34±4.66a	39.62±10.10bc
	Na+Cd	45.35±5.37ab	8.98±3.81a	45.68±3.89ab
	PEG+Cd	35.45±8.07b	10.50±2.75a	54.04±6.48a
	Cdp+Cd	52.85±8.17a	12.60±2.27a	34.56±6.26c
根 Roots	Cd	35.21±4.70ab	16.12±4.88a	48.67±0.92ab
	-Fe+Cd	41.93±4.29ab	17.97±3.83a	40.10±5.60b
	Na+Cd	42.11±8.60ab	12.65±1.32ab	45.23±9.39ab
	PEG+Cd	33.19±5.26b	9.03±1.48b	57.77±5.50a
	Cdp+Cd	46.59±12.50a	14.67±4.93ab	38.74±14.20b

组织 Organ	处理 Treatment	细胞壁 Cell wall	细胞器 Organelle	细胞可溶性部分 Cell soluble fraction
叶 Leaves	Cd	50.97±4.22a	11.23±0.98a	37.80±4.21bc
	-Fe+Cd	48.04±10.70a	12.34±4.66a	39.62±10.10bc
	Na+Cd	45.35±5.37ab	8.98±3.81a	45.68±3.89ab
	PEG+Cd	35.45±8.07b	10.50±2.75a	54.04±6.48a
	Cdp+Cd	52.85±8.17a	12.60±2.27a	34.56±6.26c
根 Roots	Cd	35.21±4.70ab	16.12±4.88a	48.67±0.92ab
	-Fe+Cd	41.93±4.29ab	17.97±3.83a	40.10±5.60b
	Na+Cd	42.11±8.60ab	12.65±1.32ab	45.23±9.39ab
	PEG+Cd	33.19±5.26b	9.03±1.48b	57.77±5.50a
	Cdp+Cd	46.59±12.50a	14.67±4.93ab	38.74±14.20b

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