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Environmental and Stress Physiology

Alteration of Thiol Pools in Roots and Shoots of Maize Seedlings Exposed to Cadmium ¹

Adaptation and Developmental Cost

Department of Botany, College of Biological Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada

Roots of intact 5-day-old maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings were exposed to 3 micromolar Cd during a 7-day period. Cysteine, -glutamylcysteine, glutathione (GSH), and Cd-induced acid-soluble thiols (ASTs), including phytochelatins, were quantified in roots and shoots. Adaptation to Cd and its cost to seedling development were evaluated by measuring Cd content, tissue fresh weight, and rate of root elongation. Roots contained 60 to 67% of the Cd in the seedlings between 4 and 7 days of exposure. Exposure to Cd decreased the fresh weight gain in roots from day 4 onward without affecting the shoots. Between days 1.5 and 3.5 of Cd treatment, roots elongated more slowly than controls; however, their growth rate recovered thereafter and exceeded that of controls. Exposure to Cd did not appreciably affect the concentration of cysteine in the seedlings. However, the initial low concentration of -glutamylcysteine increased (after a lag of 6 hours in roots and 2 days in shoots), reaching a plateau by day 6 at 28.5 nanomoles per gram of fresh weight in roots and by day 5 at 19.1 nanomoles per gram of fresh weight in shoots. During the first 9 hours of Cd exposure, the concentration of GSH in roots decreased dramatically (at 31.6 nanomoles per gram of fresh weight per hour) and thereafter decreased more slowly than in controls. The depletion of GSH in the roots (366 nanomoles per gram of fresh weight) matched the synthesis of ASTs (349 nanomoles per gram of fresh weight) during the first 48 hours. The concentration of ASTs in roots increased steadily thereafter to reach 662.2 nanomoles per gram of fresh weight by 6 days of Cd exposure. In shoots, Cd had little influence on the concentration of GSH, but ASTs still accumulated to 173.3 nanomoles per gram fresh weight after 5 days. The molar ratio of thiols in ASTs to Cd increased to a maximum of 10.24 in roots after 4 hours and of 4.25 in shoots after 2 days of Cd exposure. After 4 days, the ratio reached a plateau of approximately 2 in roots and between 2 and 3 in shoots, as if a steady state of Cd chelation had been achieved in both organs. The plateau coincided with recovered root elongation or an adaptation to Cd. The reduced fresh weight gain of the roots during this time, however, indicated that the synthesis of Cd-induced thiols was at a cost to root development.

¹ This work was supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (to P.M.) and by operating grant A4921 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (to W.E.R.).

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