Boron stress response and accumulation potential of the extremely tolerant species Puccinellia frigida.
Phytoremediation is a promising technology to tackle boron toxicity, which restricts agricultural activities in many arid and semi-arid areas. Puccinellia frigida is a perennial grass that was reported to hyperaccumulate boron in extremely boron-contaminated sites. To further investigate its potential for phytoremediation, we determined its response to boron stress under controlled conditions (hydroponic culture). Also, as a first step towards understanding the mechanisms underlying its extreme tolerance, we evaluated the presence and expression of genes related with boron tolerance. We found that P. frigida grew normally even at highly toxic boron concentrations in the medium (500mg/L), and within its tissues (>5000mg/kg DW). We postulate that the strategies conferring this extreme tolerance involve both restricting boron accumulation and an internal tolerance mechanism; this is consistent with the identification of putative genes involved in both mechanisms, including the expression of a possible boron efflux transporter. We also found that P. frigida hyperaccumulated boron over a wide range of boron concentrations. We propose that P. frigida could be used for boron phytoremediation strategies in places with different soil characteristics and boron concentrations. Further studies should pave the way for the development of clean and low-cost solutions to boron toxicity problems.
Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Ambiental, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Santiago, Chile.
Consuelo D P
CDP
Rámila
Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Santiago, Chile.
Samuel A
SA
Contreras
Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Santiago, Chile.
Camila
C
Di Domenico
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile; Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Talca, Avda. Lircay s/n, Talca, Chile.
Marco A
MA
Molina-Montenegro
Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Santiago, Chile.
Andrea
A
Vega
Departmento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Avenida Las Palmeras 3425, 7800024 Santiago, Chile.
Michael
M
Handford
Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Ambiental, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Santiago, Chile; Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable (CEDEUS), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Santiago, Chile.
Carlos A
CA
Bonilla
Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Ambiental, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Santiago, Chile; Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable (CEDEUS), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: gpizarro@ing.puc.cl.
Gonzalo E
GE
Pizarro
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000235:genetics; D018533:Biomass; D001895:Boron / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D002677:Chile; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D018527:Hydroponics; D006109:Poaceae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*
D018744:DNA, Plant; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D001895:Boron
Boron; Hydroponic; Hyperaccumulation; Phytoremediation; Puccinellia frigida