Influence of uranium speciation on its accumulation and translocation in three plant species: Oilseed rape, sunflower and wheat
2012
Laurette, Julien | Larue, Camille | Mariet, Clarisse | Brisset, François | Khodja, Hicham | Bourguignon, Jacques | Carrière, Marie
Chemical speciation greatly influences the accumulation and distribution of metallic pollutants in plants. This study aimed at evaluating plant differential responses to various speciations of a same element. Uranium (U) was chosen as a model, to which wheat, oilseed rape and sunflower were exposed. Using ICP-MS elemental analysis, together with a panel of imaging techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and particle-induced X-ray emission spectroscopy (PIXE), we show that plant behavior in response to U follows three schemes. When exposed to UO₂ ²⁺ free ion, root adsorption and/or accumulation is high, but U transfer to the shoots is limited by precipitation on cell walls. Complexation with carbonate or citrate reduces U content in roots but drastically increases translocation to the shoots, concentrating U in leaves. Inversely, complexation with phosphate considerably reduces U accumulation in all plant tissues, by precipitation and adsorption of U-rich clusters on root epidermal cells. Finally, our results of U chemical extraction from plant tissues suggest the existence of U-binding proteins. Taken together, these data highlight the role of uranium speciation in the transfer of this metallic pollutant into plants and lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms governing its mobilization, accumulation and distribution in plants. These results will be helpful to improve phytoremediation technology of contaminated soils.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by National Agricultural Library