TY - JOUR
T1 - Does slow and steady win the race? Root growth dynamics of Arabidopsis halleri ecotypes in soils with varying trace metal element contamination
AU - Dietrich, Charlotte C.
AU - Bilnicki, Kamil
AU - Korzeniak, Urszula
AU - Briese, Christoph
AU - Nagel, Kerstin A.
AU - Babst-Kostecka, Alicja
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank M. Tatrzańska-Matuła, B. Pawłowska, A. Pitek, N. Porada, B. Łopata, G. Szarek-Łukaszewska, for collecting seeds, and F. Babst for editorial comments. This research was supported by the POWROTY/REINTEGRATION programme of the Foundation for Polish Science cofinanced by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund ( POIR.04.04.00-00-1D79/16-00 ), and statutory fund from the W. Szafer Institute of Botany PAS .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/11
Y1 - 2019/11
N2 - Hyperaccumulating plants possess complex traits, allowing them to thrive in soils with high concentrations of trace metal elements (TME). Accordingly, their TME hypertolerance and hyperaccumulation capacities have been intensely studied from physiological, evolutionary, and ecological perspectives. Little is known, however, about their root system development in TME enriched vs natural soils. We assessed temporal and quantitative changes in root systems of the model species Arabidopsis halleri, using a novel combination of root phenotyping in rhizoboxes and multitemporal digital imaging. We continuously monitored root growth of two non-metallicolous and two metallicolous populations in different substrate treatments, including homogeneous and horizontal layer applications of metalliferous and non-metalliferous soils. Non-metallicolous plants on non-metalliferous soils produced deep-reaching and wide roots, whereas metallicolous plants on metalliferous soil had smaller roots. This pattern was reversed when transplanting seedlings to foreign substrates, indicating that environment rather than ecotype determines root growth in A. halleri. Dampened root development in metalliferous and favored root proliferation in non-metalliferous soils indicate cost of tolerance and TME foraging, respectively. Importantly, root propagation into metalliferous soil was strongly promoted by a non-metalliferous “capping” layer that facilitated initial plant development. Hence, growing on non-polluted substrate in the early stage provides plants with a robust and optimal root system that facilitates seedling establishment and subsequent development under TME enriched conditions. These findings improve our understanding of plant performance in metalliferous environments and can help refine management practices for the sustainable reclamation of degraded lands.
AB - Hyperaccumulating plants possess complex traits, allowing them to thrive in soils with high concentrations of trace metal elements (TME). Accordingly, their TME hypertolerance and hyperaccumulation capacities have been intensely studied from physiological, evolutionary, and ecological perspectives. Little is known, however, about their root system development in TME enriched vs natural soils. We assessed temporal and quantitative changes in root systems of the model species Arabidopsis halleri, using a novel combination of root phenotyping in rhizoboxes and multitemporal digital imaging. We continuously monitored root growth of two non-metallicolous and two metallicolous populations in different substrate treatments, including homogeneous and horizontal layer applications of metalliferous and non-metalliferous soils. Non-metallicolous plants on non-metalliferous soils produced deep-reaching and wide roots, whereas metallicolous plants on metalliferous soil had smaller roots. This pattern was reversed when transplanting seedlings to foreign substrates, indicating that environment rather than ecotype determines root growth in A. halleri. Dampened root development in metalliferous and favored root proliferation in non-metalliferous soils indicate cost of tolerance and TME foraging, respectively. Importantly, root propagation into metalliferous soil was strongly promoted by a non-metalliferous “capping” layer that facilitated initial plant development. Hence, growing on non-polluted substrate in the early stage provides plants with a robust and optimal root system that facilitates seedling establishment and subsequent development under TME enriched conditions. These findings improve our understanding of plant performance in metalliferous environments and can help refine management practices for the sustainable reclamation of degraded lands.
KW - Metal stress
KW - Rhizobox
KW - Root foraging
KW - Root phenotyping
KW - Root system architecture
KW - Trace metal elements (TME)
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.103862
DO - 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.103862
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071053150
SN - 0098-8472
VL - 167
JO - Environmental and Experimental Botany
JF - Environmental and Experimental Botany
M1 - 103862
ER -