Indications of Selenium Protection against Cadmium and Lead Toxicity in Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.)

Zhilin Wu; Xuebin Yin; Gary S Bañuelos; Zhi-Qing Lin; Ying Liu; Miao Li; Linxi Yuan

doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.01875

Indications of Selenium Protection against Cadmium and Lead Toxicity in Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.)

Front Plant Sci. 2016 Dec 15:7:1875. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01875. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Zhilin Wu¹, Xuebin Yin², Gary S Bañuelos³, Zhi-Qing Lin⁴, Ying Liu², Miao Li⁵, Linxi Yuan²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Agri-Food Safety of Anhui Province, Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Agricultural Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture - Laboratory of Quality and Safty Risk Assessment for Agricultural Products on Storage and Preservation of the Ministry of Agriculture, School of Plant Protection - School of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural UniversityHefei, China; School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China; Jiangsu Bio-Engineering Research Centre of Selenium, Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Science and Technology of ChinaSuzhou, China.
² School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China; Jiangsu Bio-Engineering Research Centre of Selenium, Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Science and Technology of ChinaSuzhou, China; Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China.
³ San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service, Parlier CA, USA.
⁴ Environmental Sciences Program and Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville IL, USA.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Agri-Food Safety of Anhui Province, Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Agricultural Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture - Laboratory of Quality and Safty Risk Assessment for Agricultural Products on Storage and Preservation of the Ministry of Agriculture, School of Plant Protection - School of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural UniversityHefei, China; Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China; The Northwest of Anhui Province Station for Integrative Agriculture, Research Institute for New Rural Development, Anhui Agricultural UniversityHefei, China.

Abstract

The present study investigated the beneficial role of selenium (Se) in protecting oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) plants from cadmium (Cd⁺²) and lead (Pb⁺²) toxicity. Exogenous Se markedly reduced Cd and Pb concentration in both roots and shoots. Supplementation of the medium with Se (5, 10, and 15 mg kg^-1) alleviated the negative effect of Cd and Pb on growth and led to a decrease in oxidative damages caused by Cd and Pb. Furthermore, Se-enhanced superoxide free radicals ([Formula: see text]), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and lipid peroxidation, as indicated by malondialdehyde accumulation, but decreased superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities. Meanwhile, the presence of Cd and Pb in the medium affected Se speciation in shoots. The results suggest that Se could alleviate Cd and Pb toxicity by preventing oxidative stress in oilseed rape plant.

Keywords: antioxidant defense system; cadmium; lead; oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.); oxidative stress; selenium.