Aluminum phytotoxicity in acidic environments: A comprehensive review of plant tolerance and adaptation strategies

Ur Rahman, Shafeeq; Han, Jing-Cheng; Ahmad, Muhammad; Ashraf, Muhammad Nadeem; Khaliq, Muhammad Athar; Yousaf, Maryam; Wang, Yuchen; Yasin, Ghulam; Nawaz, Muhammad Farrakh; Khan, Khalid Ali; Du, Zhenjie

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115791

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 186 publications

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“…The trade-off between growth and resistance was also in line with the biochemical responses observed in previous studies. Specifically, under high Al stress, plants not only increased energy expenditure to enhance activation of antioxidants, but they also devoted more energy to exude organic acids or phenolic compounds [ 45 ]. These would alleviate Al toxicity within the plant or reduce Al concentration in the rhizosphere [ 14 , 46 , 47 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low levels of Al stimulate the aboveground growth of Davidia involucrata saplings

Wang,

Guo,

Yang

et al. 2024

BMC Plant Biol

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Davidia involucrata is a woody perennial and the only living species in the Genus Davidia. It is native to southern China where it holds cultural and scientific importance. However, D. involucrata is now an endangered species and its natural range includes low pH soils which are increasingly impacted by acid rain, nitrogen deposition and imbalanced nutrient cycling. The combination of these stresses also poses the additional risk of aluminum (Al) toxicity. Since the responses of D. involucrata to low pH and aluminum toxicity have not been investigated previously, a hydroponic experiment was conducted to examine the growth of one year old D. involucrata saplings after 50 d growth in a range of pH and Al conditions. Plant biomass, morphology, antioxidant enzyme activity, mineral concentrations and plant ecological strategy were compared at pH 5.8 and pH 4.0 without added Al (AlCl3) and in 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 mM Al at pH 4.0. Our results showed that compared with pH 5.8, pH 4.0 (without added Al) not only inhibited root and shoot growth but also limited accumulation of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in leaves of D. involucrate. However, low Al concentrations (0.1 and 0.2 mM Al) at pH 4.0 partially restored the aboveground growth and leaf N concentrations, suggesting an alleviation of H+ toxicity by low Al concentrations. Compared with low Al concentrations, 0.5 mM Al treatment decreased plant growth and concentrations of N, P, and magnesium (Mg) in the leaves, which demonstrated the toxicity of high Al concentration. The results based on plant ecological strategy showed that D. involucrate decreased the competitiveness and favored its stress tolerance as pH changed from 5.8 to 4.0. Meanwhile, the competitiveness and stress tolerance of D. involucrata increased and decreased at low Al concentrations, respectively, and decreased and increased at high Al concentration, respectively. These trade-offs in ecological strategy were consistent with the responses of growth and antioxidant enzyme activity, reflecting a sensitive adaptation of D. involucrata to acid and Al stresses, which may aid in sustaining population dynamics. These findings are meaningful for understanding the population dynamics of D. involucrata in response to aluminum toxicity in acid soils.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%