Selenium does not ease growth inhibition caused by aluminum in Schinus terebinthifolius seedlings

Abstract

Aluminum (Al) toxicity is observed in several crops in the world and affects the yield of many cultures. Using beneficial elements such as selenium (Se) has been the object of studies focused on finding an alternative to mitigate the toxic effects of metals on crops. Thus, the aims of the current study were to assess the tolerance/sensitivity to Al, and Se mitigating effects on morphological, photosynthetic and biochemical variables recorded for Schinus terebinthifolius seedlings exposed to Al. Schinus terebinthifolius seedlings in hydroponics were subjected to the following Al and Se combinations added to the nutrient solution in mM: 0 Al + 0 Se; 0 Al + 0.0025 Se; 1.85 Al + 0 Se; 1.85 Al + 0.0025 Se; 3.71 Al + 0 Se and 3.71 Al + 2.5 Se. The study followed the completely randomized experimental design, with three repetitions. Al reduced the leaf area, shoot and root dry mass, root increment, as well as root length, surface area, volume and diameter. Seedlings’ photosynthetic activity decreased possibly due to the presence of Al in them; and even when Se was present, it was not able to mitigate the effects of Al. The enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant system was not able to avoid the oxidative stress caused by the presence of Al, as well as the Se was not able to minimize the effects from different Al concentrations on S. terebinthifolius seedlings. Therefore, species S. terebinthifolius is sensitive to Al in hydroponic systems and Se addition, in general, did not mitigate the toxic effects from different Al concentrations.

Keywords:

• Antioxidant system
• metal toxicity
• morphophysiological variables
• oxidative stress

Authors’ Contributions

Jéssica Patrícia Oliveira De Mattos: Writing-Reviewing, Conceptualization, Project administration, carrying out the experiments, biochemical and physiological analysis and data analysis. Marcos Vinícius Miranda Aguilar: Software, Methodology, formal analysis, supervision and Writing-Revision. Jover da Silva Alves: Validation, Investigation, programming, biochemical and physiological analysis. Thalía Preussler Birck: Supervision, visualization and Project administration. Caroline Castro Kuinchtner: Software, formal analysis, supervision and biochemical analysis. Camila Peligrinotti Tarouco: Writing-Review, Visualization, and Validation. Thomas Wink Peixoto: Validation, supervision, and formal analysis term. Luciane Almeri Tabaldi: Project orientation, Resources, Conceptualization, funding acquisition, Writing-Reviewing, and biochemical analysis.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.