Arsenic speciation in xylem exudates of rice growing in arsenic-contaminated soil

Abstract

Rice has a much enhanced arsenic (As) accumulation compared with other cereal crops. How As is transported in xylem exudates of rice growing in soil remains unknown. We quantified the chemical species of As in xylem exudates of rice growing in arsenic-contaminated soil (62.5 mg As per kg soil) under flooded and aerobic conditions. In the aerobic treatment, the predominant species of As in the xylem sap was arsenate [As(V)], accounting for 64–88%, and the remainder was arsenite [As(III)]. In the flooded treatment, dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) was detected in the xylem sap besides As(III) and As(V), and the percentages of the three species As was 11–20%, 26–77%, and 12–54%, respectively. As speciation in the soil solution was dominated by As(V) under aerobic conditions, and dominated by As(III) under flooded conditions. DMA was detected at low concentrations in some of the flooded solution samples. Our results show that As speciation in the xylem sap differs in different water management regimes and correlate with As speciation in the soil solution strongly.