Copper alleviates cobalt toxicity in barley by antagonistic interaction of the two metals

Jonas Lwalaba Wa Lwalaba; Laurence Tennyson Louis; Gerald Zvobgo; Liangbo Fu; Theodore Mulembo Mwamba; Robert Prince Mukobo Mundende; Guoping Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.04.077

Copper alleviates cobalt toxicity in barley by antagonistic interaction of the two metals

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2019 Sep 30:180:234-241. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.04.077. Epub 2019 May 13.

Authors

Jonas Lwalaba Wa Lwalaba¹, Laurence Tennyson Louis², Gerald Zvobgo², Liangbo Fu², Theodore Mulembo Mwamba¹, Robert Prince Mukobo Mundende³, Guoping Zhang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resource, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China; Department of Crops Sciences, Faculty of Agronomy, Université de Lubumbashi, PO Box 1825, Lubumbashi, DR, Congo.
² Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resource, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China.
³ Department of Crops Sciences, Faculty of Agronomy, Université de Lubumbashi, PO Box 1825, Lubumbashi, DR, Congo.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resource, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China. Electronic address: zhanggp@zju.edu.cn.

PMID: 31096127
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.04.077

Abstract

Cobalt (Co) commonly co-exists with copper (Cu) in natural soils, but the information about their combined effects on plants is poorly available. In this study, we hydroponically investigated the combined effects of Co and Cu on two barley genotypes differing in Co toxicity tolerance to reveal the interaction pattern of these two metals. The results showed that single treatment of Co or Cu at the dose of 100 μM led to a significant decrease of growth and photosynthetic rate, and a significant increase of lipid peroxidation, ROS radicals as well as anti-oxidative enzyme (SOD, CAT and GR) activities and glutathione content, with the extent of effect being less in Yan66 than Ea52. The combined treatment of Co and Cu alleviated the toxicity of both metals in comparison with each metal treatment alone, as reflected by improved growth and photosynthesis, and much slight oxidative stress. The alleviation of metal toxicity upon combined treatment is mainly attributed to a drastic reduction of Co uptake and its translocation from roots to shoots. It may be suggested that interaction of Co and Cu on their uptake and movement in plants is antagonistic.

Keywords: Alleviation; Barley; Cobalt; Copper; Genotypes; Oxidative stress.

MeSH terms

Antioxidants / metabolism
Cobalt / toxicity*
Copper / toxicity*
Drug Interactions
Glutathione / metabolism
Hordeum / drug effects*
Hordeum / enzymology
Hordeum / metabolism
Lipid Peroxidation
Oxidative Stress / drug effects
Photosynthesis / drug effects
Soil Pollutants / toxicity*

Substances

Antioxidants
Soil Pollutants
Cobalt
Copper
Glutathione