Modification of nitrate uptake pathway in plants affects the cadmium uptake by roots

Figures & data

Figure 1. Effect of N-form on growth and Cd concentration in Arabidopsis Col-0 plants grown with solution medium. Effect of N-form on growth and Cd concentration in Arabidopsis Col-0 plants grown with solution medium. (A) and (B) The relative biomass. (C) and (D) The Cd concentration in plants from Cd treatment. At the age of 5 weeks, the plant weere transferred to Cd-free or 10 μM Cd-added growth solutions with either NO₃⁻ or NH₄⁺ as the sole nitrogen source. The shoots and roots of plants after 7 d of treatments were harvested for biomass and Cd concentration measurements. The relative biomass was calculated as the mean of fresh weight relative to the control treatment. Error bars represent standard deviations (n = 5–8). n refers to number of biological replicates

Figure 2. Correlation between NO₃⁻ uptake rate and Cd concentration in edible parts in 11 Chinese cabbage cultivars. For measurement of NO₃⁻ uptake rate, roots of hydroponically grown plants were immersed in 100 mL of a constantly agitated and aerated solution containing 0.5 mM CaSO₄ and 2 mM KNO₃, and the net uptake of NO₃ ⁻ was measured as NO₃ ⁻ depletion from the solution per unit of time. The Cd concentration in edible parts was measured in plants grown with soil containing Cd at rate of 10 mg kg⁻¹ soil.