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Soil contamination by hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI) or chromate] due to anthropogenic activities has become an increasingly important environmental problem. Mineral nutrients such as phosphate (Pi), sulfate and nitrate have been reported to attenuate Cr(VI) toxicity, but the underlying mechanisms remain to be clarified. Here, we show that chromate activates the expression of low-Pi inducible reporter genes AtPT1 and AtPT2 in Arabidopsis thaliana transgenic seedlings. Primary-root growth was inhibited by 60 % in AtPT2::uidA-expressing seedlings upon exposure to 140-μM Cr(VI). However, increasing the Pi and sulfate supply to the seedlings that were experiencing Cr(VI) toxicity completely and partially restored the root growth, respectively. This effect correlated with the Cr(VI)-induced AtPT2::uidA expression being completely reversed by addition of Pi. To evaluate whether the nutrient supply may affect the endogenous level of Cr in plants grown under toxic Cr(VI) levels, the contents of Cr were measured (by ICP-MS analyses) in seedlings treated with Cr and with or without Pi, sulfate or nitrate. It was found that Cr accumulation increases tenfold in plants treated with 140-μM Cr(VI) without modifying the phosphorus concentration in the plant. In contrast, the supply of Pi specifically decreased the Cr content to levels similar to those found in seedlings grown in medium without chromate. Taken together, these results show that in A. thaliana seedlings the uptake of Cr(VI) is reduced by Pi. Moreover, our data indicate that Pi and sulfate supplements may be useful in strategies for handling Cr-contaminated soils.

Morphological root plasticity optimizes nutrient and water uptake by plants and is a promising target to improve tolerance to metal toxicity. Exposure to sublethal chromate [Cr(VI)] concentrations inhibits root growth, decreases photosynthesis and compromises plant development and productivity. Despite the increasing environmental problem that Cr(VI) represents, to date, the Cr tolerance mechanisms of plants are not well understood, and it remains to be investigated whether root architecture remodelling is important for plant adaptation to Cr(VI) stress. In this report, we analysed the growth response of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings to concentrations of Cr(VI) that strongly repress primary and lateral root growth. Interestingly, adventitious roots started developing, branched and allowed seedlings to grow under highly growth-repressing Cr(VI) concentrations. Cr(VI) negatively regulates auxin transport and response gene expression in the primary root tip, as evidenced by decreased expression of auxin-related reporters DR5::GFP, DR5::uidA and PIN1::PIN1::GFP, and then, another auxin maximum is established at the site of adventitious root initiation that drives adventitious root organogenesis. Both primary root growth inhibition and adventitious root formation induced by high Cr(VI) levels are blocked by a gain-of-function mutation in the SOLITARY-ROOT/IAA14 gene of Arabidopsis. These data provide evidence that suggests a critical role for auxin transport and signalling via IAA14/SLR1 in the developmental program linking Cr(VI) to root architecture remodelling.

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