Abstract
Arsenic is one of the most dangerous metalloids, and silicon is a helpful element supporting plants to withstand stress. In this study, three factors were considered, including rice accessions with three different lines, including Lsi1-RNAi line (LE-R), Lsi1 overexpression line (LE-OE), and their wild type (LE-WT), and silicon and arsenic treatments with two different levels. Analysis of variance in dry weight biomass, protein content, arsenic, and silicon concentration has shown a significant interaction between three factors. Further analysis showed that the silicon concentration of all rice seedlings under silicon treatments increased significantly. The LE-OE line has shown a higher ability to absorb silicon in hydroponic conditions than the wild type, and when the seedlings were exposed to arsenic, the concentration of arsenic in all lines increased significantly. Adding silicon to over-expressed rice lines with the Lsi1 gene creates better arsenic resistance than their wild type. These findings confirmed antagonism between silicon and arsenic, and seedlings exposed to arsenic showed a reduction in silicon concentration in all rice lines. RNA-seq analysis showed 106 differentially expressed genes in the LE-OE line, including 75 up-regulated genes and 31 down-regulated genes. DEGs in the LE-R line were 449 genes, including 190 up-regulated and 259 down-regulated genes. Adding treatment has changed the expression of Calcium-binding EGF domain-containing, Os10g0530500, Os05g0240200 in both LE-OE and LE-R roots. They showed that transgenic cultivars were more resistant to arsenic than wild-type, especially when silicon was added to the culture medium.
Highlights
The effects of environmental pollution on nature and humans have been increasingly recognized over the past decades
Increasing Si had an active role in reducing arsenic stress, and this effect was more significant in the LE-OE line than in other varieties
The study showed that adding As to the culture medium in all lines reduced the soluble protein in both root and shoot, which the highest decrease in soluble protein was observed in LE-WT
Summary
The effects of environmental pollution on nature and humans have been increasingly recognized over the past decades. One of the most imminent threats to nature and ecosystems is water and soil pollution by metalloids and heavy metals. They penetrate biological cycles, cause fundamental changes in ecosystems, and have harmful environmental effects [1]. Arsenic (As) is a toxic metalloid with different oxidation numbers (−3, +3, +5). It occurs naturally in the soil in low concentrations, mainly originating from human activities [2]. Humans are mainly exposed to As by consuming contaminated foods and water in areas contaminated by mining activities [3]. Arsenic compounds penetrate the environment through many materials used in industry; this element is used significantly as herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, algaecides, etc. [5]
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