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Radial oxygen loss has different effects on the accumulation of total mercury and methylmercury in rice

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Abstract

Background and Aims

Mercury (Hg) pollution in paddy fields and rice has aroused great concern in recent years. This study investigated the dynamic changes of radial oxygen loss (ROL) and Fe plaque formation on roots, and their effects on Hg accumulation in rice plants.

Methods

A rhizobag experiment was conducted to study temporal variations and correlations between ROL (amounts and rates), Fe plaque formation, total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in plant tissues and in plaque of four rice cultivars during six growth stages.

Results

ROL amounts and Fe plaque formation increased from tillering to reproductive stages, then ROL amounts gradually decreased until maturation stage, whereas Fe plaque remained relatively stable. ROL rates continued to decline during the entire growth period. Both ROL amounts and Fe concentrations in plaque were positively correlated with THg concentrations in the plaque, whereas negatively correlated with THg in straw and brown rice. However, there were no significant relationships between ROL, Fe in plaque and MeHg in plaque and in plant tissues.

Conclusions

ROL has great effects on THg but not MeHg accumulation in rice plants. Rice cultivars with higher ROLs tend to have a greater ability to reduce THg accumulation in brown rice.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30770417, 31070450), the National Basic Research Program of China (2013CB430004), and the National ‘863’ project of China (2012AA061510, 2013AA062609). We thank Prof. A.J.M. Baker (The Universities of Melbourne and Queensland, Australia) for help in the initial preparation and improvement of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, People’s Republic of China

    Xun Wang, Lu Huang, Xiaoli Qi & Zhihong Ye

  2. Ecological Civilization Construction Committee of Guiyang, Guiyang Research Academy of Eco-Environmental Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, People’s Republic of China

    Bing Li

  3. Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Nora Fung-Yee Tam

  4. State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Nora Fung-Yee Tam

  5. School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, People’s Republic of China

    Hongbin Wang

  6. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Mei Meng & Jianbo Shi

Authors
  1. Xun Wang
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  2. Bing Li
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  4. Lu Huang
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  9. Jianbo Shi
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhihong Ye or Jianbo Shi.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Henk Schat.

Xun Wang and Bing Li the authors equal contribution to this work.

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Wang, X., Li, B., Tam, N.FY. et al. Radial oxygen loss has different effects on the accumulation of total mercury and methylmercury in rice. Plant Soil 385, 343–355 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2239-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2239-x

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