Abstract
(1) Background: Populus ×canescens (Aiton) Sm. is a fast-growing woody plant belonging to the family Salicaceae. Two poplar genotypes characterized by unique phenotypic traits (TP11 and TP20) were chosen to be characterized and tested for a physiological and transcriptomic response to Cd stress. (2) Methods: A comparative analysis of the effects of exposure to high cadmium (Cd) concentrations (10 µM and 100 µM) of TP11 and TP20 was performed. (3) Results: Neither of the tested Cd concentration negatively affected plant growth; however, the chlorophyll content significantly decreased. The potassium (K) content was higher in the shoots than in the roots. The magnesium concentrations were only slightly affected by Cd treatment. The zinc content in the shoots of TP20 was lower than that in the shoots of TP11. Cd accumulation was higher in the roots than in the shoots. After 10 days of exposure, 10 µM Cd resulted in comparable amounts of Cd in the roots and shoots of TP20. The most significant change in transcript amount was observed in endochitinase 2, 12-oxophytodienoate reductase 1 and phi classglutathione S-transferase. (4) Conclusions: Our study provided new insights for effective assessing the ability of different poplar genotypes to tolerate Cd stress and underlying Cd tolerance.
Highlights
Environment plays a crucial role in ensuring global health
Our results show that with prolonged cultivation time of grey poplar genotypes, the relative expression patterns of OPR1 increased in both plant organs
Considering the toxicity of Cd and the effects of Cd on plant growth, the present data demonstrated that grey poplar cultures are highly tolerant to metal stress
Summary
Soil heavy metal pollution has attracted global attention. Heavy metals tend to accumulate in living organisms and cause serious deleterious effects. Due to its low adsorption coefficient and high soil-plant mobility, Cd may enter the food chain. Plant Cd uptake occurs mainly via roots and is taken up into the cell by passive and active pathways, mediated by carriers and channels permeable to essential nutrients [1,2,3]. Cd causes phytotoxicity by inhibiting plant growth and respiration [4], causing the dysfunction of photosynthesis and stomatal closure [5], disrupting ATPase activity [6] or decreasing water and nutrient uptake and transport [7].
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