RETRACTED: Morpho-Physiological and Proteomic Analyses of Eucalyptus camaldulensis as a Bioremediator in Copper-Polluted Soil in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The present investigation aimed to assess the impact of copper (Cu) stress on the physiological and proteomic behavior of Eucalyptus camaldulensis. E. camaldulensis is likely a potential phytoremediator in areas vulnerable to Cu contamination, such as the industrial areas of Riyadh. To realize this objective, young seedlings of E. camaldulensis were potted in an open area with soil comprised of clay and sand. Different doses of Cu (30, 50, and 100 µM) were applied to the plants as CuSO4.5H2O for 6 weeks. Plant growth was monitored during the Cu exposure period, and morphological and physiological indicators were measured once a week to determine the growth rates. A proteomics study was also conducted to find out the influence of Cu stress on proteins. Our results showed that growth was negatively affected by Cu treatment, particularly at the highest concentrations. Moreover, using a proteomic analysis showed 26 targets involved in protein expression, which were separated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF MS). Elevated levels of Cu increased the expression of 11 proteins and decreased the expression of 15 proteins. Changes were detected in proteins involved in photosynthesis, translation, transcription, metabolism, and antioxidant enzymes. Our findings provided insights into the molecular mechanisms related to Cu stress, in addition to its influence on the morphological and physiological attributes of E. camaldulensis seedlings. This investigation aimed to characterize the mechanism behind the impact of Cu stress on the plant.

RETRACTED: Alotaibi et al. Morpho-Physiological and Proteomic Analyses of Eucalyptus camaldulensis as a Bioremediator in Copper-Polluted Soil in Saudi Arabia. Plants 2019, 8, 43

“…Although the outcome and conclusions of the study were not affected, the changes to the methods were so substantial that it was decided that a correction would not be appropriate, and the paper will therefore be retracted. The retraction has been agreed with both the Editor-in-Chief of Plants and the authors of [ 1 ].…”

“…The Plants Editorial Office has been made aware that there are partly inadequate materials in the published paper [ 1 ]. In this paper, some aspects of proteomics data were incorrectly presented in parts of materials and methods, as the complete proteomics protocols used in generating the data were not reported in the paper.…”

“…The Plants Editorial Office apologizes to the readers of Plants for any inconvenience caused. To ensure the addition of only high-quality scientific works to the field of scholarly communication, the paper [ 1 ] is retracted and shall be marked accordingly. MDPI is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and takes the responsibility to enforce strict ethical policies and standards very seriously.…”

Excess Copper-Induced Alterations of Protein Profiles and Related Physiological Parameters in Citrus Leaves

“…Most reports, however, have focused on herbaceous plants, including rice [17][18][19], Allium cepa [20], Oenothera glazioviana [21], Arabidopsis [22], Cannabis sativa [23], Agrostis capillaris [24], Elsholtzia splendens [25,26], sorghum [27,28] and wheat [29], while only one study investigated Cu-toxic effects on protein profiles in leaves of woody plant Eucalyptus camaldulensis [30]. Also, most of the above studies mainly focused on Cu-toxicity-responsive proteins occurring in roots because Cu is preferentially accumulated in Cu-stressed roots, while only few studies investigated Cu-toxic effects on protein profiles in leaves [25,27,29,30]. Evidence shows that the toxic effects of Cu on plant proteomics vary with Cu concentration, plant species, populations and/or cultivars, and plant tissues [17,18,24,25,[27][28][29].…”

Advances in “Omics” Approaches for Improving Toxic Metals/Metalloids Tolerance in Plants

“…Elevated Cu levels up-regulated the expression of 11 proteins and down-regulated expression of 15 proteins. Identified proteins were associated with antioxidant enzymes, photosynthesis, metabolism, transcription, and translation ( Alotaibi et al, 2019 ). Furthermore, Ceballos-Laita et al (2018) used two different proteomic approaches, i.e., shotgun and 2-DE, to study the effects of Mn toxicity on tomato root proteome.…”