The exposure to combinations of heavy metals can affect the genes of vegetables and heavy metals would accumulate in vegetables and thereby indirectly affecting human health. Exploring the links between genetic changes and phenotypic changes of carrot under the combined pollution of Cd and Cu is of great significance for studying the mechanism of heavy metal pollution. Therefore, this study examined the effects of mixtures of cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) on physiological measures (malondialdehyde (MDA), proline, and antioxidant enzyme) and expression of growth-related genes (gibberellin gene, carotene gene, and glycogene) in carrot under greenhouse cultivation. The results showed in the additions with mixtures of Cd and Cu at higher concentration, the MDA content increased significantly (p < 0.05), whereas the proline content was not significantly different from those in the control. In the mixed treatments with high Cd concentrations, the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was significantly lower than that in the control (p < 0.05); whereas the activity of peroxidase (POD) increased to different degrees compared to the control. In the additions with mixtures of Cd and Cu, compared with the control, the expression of the gibberellin gene was downregulated from 1.97 to 20.35 times (not including the 0.2 mg kg-1 Cd and 20 mg kg-1 Cu mixture, the expression of gibberellin gene in this treatment was upregulated 1.29 times), which lead to decreases in the length and dry weight of carrots. The expression of the carotene gene in mixed treatments downregulated more than that in single treatments, which could reduce the ability of carrots to resist oxidative damage, as suggested by the significant increase in the MDA content. In the addition with mixtures of Cd and Cu, compared with the control, the expression of the glycogene was downregulated by 1.42-59.40 times, which can cause a significant reduction in the sugar content in carrots and possibly further reduce their ability to resist heavy metal damage. A cluster analysis showed that in the additions with mixtures of Cd and Cu, the plant phenotype was affected first, and then with increases in the added concentration, the expression of genes was also affected. In summary, in the additions with mixtures of Cd and Cu, plants were damaged as Cd and Cu concentrations increased.
Keywords: Cadmium; Carrot; Copper; Gene expression; Heavy metal mixture; Physiological effect.
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