Effects of Different Nitrogen Fertilizer Levels on Fe,Mn,Cu and Zn Concentrations in Shoot and Grain Quality in Rice (Oryza sativa)

In a pot experiment, effects of N fertilizer application on the concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn in shoot of rice and the quality of brown rice were studied. In the treatments with N fertilizer application, the concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn in most parts of rice shoot increased compared with control （no N fertilizer application）. This indicated that the transportation ability of microelements from root to shoot in rice was improved with N fertilizer application. Effect of N fertilizer on IR68144 was similar to that of on IR64, but the concentrations of the microelements in plant differed, suggesting that the characteristic expression of the two rice genotypes was not controlled by the amount of N fertilizer supplied. The concentrations of those microelements in brown rice increased at first and then decreased with increasing N fertilizer application, reaching the highest at 160 kg/ha, at which the Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn concentrations in brown rice increased by 28.96%, 41.34%, 58.31% and 16.0% for IR64, and by 22.16%, 13.75%, 8.75% and 20.21% for IR68144 compared with control, respectively. Moreover, N fertilizer promoted the accumulation of protein, decreased the accumulation of amylose in grain, and enhanced gel consistency of brown rice. These results indicate that appropriate N fertilizer management could increase micronutrient contents in grain and improve nutrition quality of rice.

Zn Accumulation and Subcellular Distribution in the Zn Hyperaccumulator Sedurn alfredii Hance

Zn accumulation and subcellular distribution in leaves of the hyperaccumulating ecotype (HE) and non-hyperaccumula-ting ecotype (NHE) of Sedum alfredii Hance were studied using radiotracer and gradient centrifugation techniques. Leaf Zn accumulation in the HE of S. alfredii was 18.5-26.7 times greater than that in the NHE when the plants were grown at 1-500μmol Zn L-1. Leaf section uptake of 65Zn was highly dependent on external Zn levels. Greater 65Zn uptake in HE was noted only at external Zn levels≥100 F44mol L-1. Zinc subcellular distribution in the leaves of the two ecotypes of S. alfredii was: cell wall > soluble fraction > cell organelle. However, more Zn was distributed to the leaf cell wall and soluble fractions for HE than for NHE. In the leaf of HE, 91%-94% of the Zn was found in the cell walls and the soluble fraction and only 6%-9% Zn was distributed in the cell organelle fraction. For NHE, about 20%-26% Zn was recovered in the cell organelle fraction. In stems, Zn distribution to the cell wall fraction was approximately two fold greater in the HE than that in the NHE. For the hyperaccumulating ecotype of S. alfredii, the cell wall and the vacuole played a very important role in Zn tolerance and hyperaccumulation.

Morphological and Physiological Responses of Plants to Cadmium Toxicity: A Review

Cadmium(Cd) contamination has posed an increasing challenge to environmental quality and food security. In recent years,phytoremediation has been particularly scrutinized because it is cost-effective and environmentally friendly, especially the use of metal-hyperaccumulating plants to extract or mine heavy metals from polluted soils. Under Cd stress, responses of hyperaccumulator and non-hyperaccumulator plants differ in morphological responses and physiological processes such as photosynthesis and respiration,uptake, transport, and assimilation of minerals and nitrogen, and water uptake and transport, which contribute to their ability to accumulate and detoxify Cd. This review aims to provide a brief overview of the recent progresses in the differential responses of hyperaccumulator and non-accumulator plants to Cd toxicity in terms of growth and physiological processes. Such information might be useful in developing phytoremediation technology for contaminated soils.

Iron Deficiency-induced Increase of Root Branching Contributes to the Enhanced Root Ferric Chelate Reductase Activity

In various plant species, Fe deficiency increases lateral root branching. However, whether this morphological alteration contributes to the Fe deficiency-induced physiological responses still remains to be demonstrated. In the present research, we demonstrated that the lateral root development of red clover （Trifolium pretense L.） was significantly enhanced by Fe deficient treatment, and the total lateral root number correlated well with the Fe deficiency-induced ferric chelate reductase （FCR） activity. By analyzing the results from Dasgan et al. （2002）, we also found that although the two tomato genotypes line227/1 （P1） and Roza （P2） and their reciprocal F1 hybrid lines （＂P1 × P2＂ and ＂P2 ×PI＂） were cultured under two different lower Fe conditions （10^-6 and 10^-7 M FeEDDHA）, their FCR activities are significantly correlated with the lateral root number. More interestingly, the -Fe chlorosis tolerant ability of these four tomato lines displays similar trends with the lateral root density. Taking these results together, it was proposed that the Fe deficiency-induced increases of the lateral root should play an important role in resistance to Fe deficiency, which may act as harnesses of a useful trait for the selection and breeding of more Fe-efficient crops among the genotypes that have evolved a Fe deficiency-induced Fe uptake system.