Lead (Pb) is one of the most toxic anthropogenic pollutants, occurring widely in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, where it impairs plant growth and development. In this work, the effect of 0.5 mM EDTA-Pb was evaluated in two Vigna unguiculata cultivars (SV and SET), with the aim of detecting genotype/cultivar dependent changes in the physiological and anti-oxidant responses (CAT and APX) of a leguminous plant. The data showed that SV accumulated more Pb in roots while SET accumulated more in leaves, indicating differential regulation in Pb-translocation/accumulation. Lead affected the growth of SV less severely than SET, mainly associated with reduced inhibition in photosynthetic parameters. Furthermore, CAT and APX activities increased or were sustained at elevated levels in both cultivars in response to lead. However, gene expression analyses revealed that CAT1 was the main lead responsive gene in SET while CAT2 was more responsive in SV. APX1 was higher expressed in tissues with higher Pb-accumulation while APX2 was ubiquitously responsive to lead in both cultivars. Taken together, these results reveal differential ability of V. unguiculata cultivars in Pb-accumulation in different tissues affecting distinctly physiological and anti-oxidant responses. In addition, the existence of cultivars with predominant Pb-accumulation in aerial tissues invokes a need for studies to identify pollution-safe cultivars of leguminous plants to ensure food safety.
Global climatic changes as high temperatures and low precipitation contribute to increase cultivated areas affected by high salt soil content. Soil salinity is well known to reduce the ability of plants to take up water and this quickly causes reduction in their growth rate. V-ATPase (EC 3.6.3.14) and V-PPase (EC 3.6.1.1) hydrolytic and proton transport activities, and gene expression were evaluated in hypocotyls of 3-, 5-, 7-day-old Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp cv. Vita 3 germinated in 100 mM NaCl in order to highlight their differential regulation and activity modulation under salt stress. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed that both genes were up-regulated by salt stress in all salt exposition times studied. Up-regulation was correlated with the increase in protein content at 5 and 7-day-old seedlings. Co-expression between A and E V-ATPase subunits was also observed. The hydrolytic and proton transport activities showed that these enzymes presented a differential modulation of their activities in the presence of 100 mM NaCl. These results suggest that V-ATPase and V-PPase activities are modulated by salt stress and a multi-step regulation is exerted in order to re-establish homeostasis.
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