Effect of the Heavy Metals on the Developmental Stages of Ovule and Seed Proteins in Chenopodium botrys L. (Chenopodiaceae)

Abstract

Excessive amounts of heavy metals adversely affect plant growth and development. Also, the presence of elevated levels of heavy metal ions triggers a wide range of cellular responses including changes in gene expression and synthesis of metal-detoxifying peptides. The overall objective of this research was to elucidate some microscopic effects of heavy metals on the formation, development, and structure of ovule and seed storage proteins in Chenopodium botrys L. To achieve this purpose, the surrounding area of Hame-Kasi iron and copper mine (Hamedan, Iran) was chosen as a polluted area where the amount of some heavy metals was several times higher than the natural soils. Flowers and young pods were removed from nonpolluted and polluted plants, fixed in FAA 70 and subjected to developmental studies. Our results showed that heavy metals can cause some abnormalities during the ovule developmental process. Decreasing the size of embryo sac, quick growth of inner integument, quick degradation of embryonic sac cells, accumulation of dark particles, irregularity, and even blockage of the nuclear envelope formation and increasing of embryonic sac cytoplasm concentration were the effects of heavy metals. Reduction of ovule number was also seen in the plants collected from polluted area. For protein studies, mature seeds were harvested from nonpolluted and polluted plants at the same time. Seed storage proteins (water soluble ones) were extracted and studied by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after being prepared. The results revealed that there were no significant differences between seed protein bands of polluted and nonpolluted samples, but the quantity of protein bands was different, and there was a slight quantitative increase of bands with molecular mass of 35 and 15 kD and decrease of a band with molecular mass of 17 kD in the plants collected from the mine area.

Effect of the Heavy Metals on Developmental Stages of Ovule, Pollen, and Root Proteins in Reseda lutea L. (Resedaceae)

“…10b), which is in agreement with previous observations reported by Malayeri et al [13] about the effect of heavy metals on ovule in Euphorbia cheiradenia Boiss & Hohen and Yousefi et al [32] in C. botrys. As another sign of cell degeneration under toxic effect of heavy metals in polluted plants, a considerable vacuolation of embryonic cells was detected (Fig.…”

“…The problems arise when cells are confronted with an excess of these vital ions or with non-nutritional ions that lead to cellular damages [26,27]. The toxic effects of metals on plants have been intensively studied at the level of biochemical, physiological, and histological processes such as photosynthesis [25,28], transpiration [29], enzyme activity [30], metal accumulation in tissue [22,31,32], or developmental process of sex organs [13,14]. The development of pollen and ovule is very important for plant reproductive survival so that any abnormality can cause a decrease in seed production and plant survival [11,33].…”

Investigating the Effect of Heavy Metals on Developmental Stages of Anther and Pollen in Chenopodium botrys L. (Chenopodiaceae)

“…Although several studies have been conducted in order to evaluate the effects of different heavy metal concentrations on live plants [8][9][10], there are few reports about toxic effects of heavy metals on the developmental stages of sex organs [11,12].…”

Was Reduced Pollen Viability in Viola tricolor L. the Result of Heavy Metal Pollution or Rather the Tests Applied?

“…The switch to asexual reproduction itself is usually a selective disadvantage in adverse conditions but is sometimes maintained (Deng et al, 2007;Deschamps et al, 2007). Many authors have found various kinds of developmental disturbances and degenerative processes in anthers and ovules of pioneer colonizing plants, resulting in a high percentage of aborted ovules and anthers (Ostrolucká, 1989;Ostrolucká et al, 1995;Mičieta and Murin, 1996;Izmaiłow, 2000;Kościńska-Pająk, 2000;Czapik et al, 2002;Izmaiłow and Biskup, 2003;Biskup and Izmaiłow, 2004;Malayeri et al, 2005;Kłosowska et al, 2009;Yousefi et al, 2009), even though generative organs are highly protected regions of the plant organism (Ernst et al, 1992;Wierzbicka and Panufik, 1998;Sun et al, 2005). As the female gametophyte is a single few-celled structure enclosed in a small ovule, it is more convenient to examine microsporogenesis and male gametophyte development, which yield huge numbers of pollen grains.…”