The potential for evolution of heavy metal tolerance in plants

Wu, Lin; Bradshaw, A. D.; Thurman, David A.

doi:10.1038/hdy.1975.21

Cited by 207 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Many of these habitats are of recent origin and thus the evolutionary events can be accurately dated (e.g. Wu, Bradshaw & Thurman, 1975;Al-Hiyaly, McNeilly & Bradshaw, 1988). However, ecotypes can also be demonstrated for naturally occurring soils, e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

The genetics of metal tolerance in vascular plants

1993

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SUMMARY In many parts of the world soils are detrimental to plant growth owing to elevated levels of metal ions, caused either by natural processes or by the result of man's activities. Many plants have evolved ecotypes or varieties that are able to grow more‐or‐less normally on these soils. This paper reviews our knowledge of the genetics of this phenomenon. The nature of tolerance and the problems of its measurement are discussed. Tolerance is frequently measured by an index produced by comparing growth in a contaminated environment with growth in a control environment. It is argued that this measurement is inappropriate for many genetical studies, and that it is frequently more useful to use growth at a single critical level of metal as a measure of tolerance. Polygenic inheritance provides a null hypothesis that has to be tested in a genetical analysis. Examples of major genes for tolerance to aluminium, arsenic, boron, cadmium, copper and manganese are discussed. Even where major genes have been demonstrated, it is probable that other minor genes, ‘modifiers’, are present as well. Because of the nature of tolerance as a character, dominance and epistasis are likely to vary with the level of metal at which an analysis is performed. Tolerance is generally found to be dominant at some levels of the metal. Studies which have mapped tolerance genes, particularly to aluminium and salt, are discussed. The specificity of tolerance is a matter of some confusion. Some studies indicate that tolerances evolve independently to different metals, but others have suggested that tolerance to one metal may often confer a degree of tolerance to some other metals. Very little is known about the molecular genetics of tolerance, and the mechanisms of tolerance to most metals. The possible role of phytochelatins and metallothionein‐like proteins in metal tolerance is discussed. The distribution of tolerance in natural populations suggests that tolerance is a disadvantage in uncontaminated environments, but how this ‘cost’ arises is not known. There is some evidence that the disadvantage to tolerance may be associated more with the modifiers of tolerance than with the primary tolerance gene. The study of the genetics of tolerance is of importance in planning breeding programmes to produce tolerant crops for use in areas where metal contamination is a limiting factor in productivity. It can also assist in understanding the mechanisms of tolerance, as exemplified by the study of the mechanism of arsenic tolerance in Holcus lanatus. Important areas for further research are discussed.

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The genetics of metal tolerance in vascular plants

1993

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“…Plants use different mechanisms to regulate intracellularly the levels of metal ions (Foy et al, 1978;Benavides et al, 2005). Development of metal-resistant plants can occur within one or two generations, in some populations (Wu et al, 1975). The main factors that play a key role in plant ability to sustain metal toxicity include the level of contamination and the amount of time it has been exposed to toxic levels.…”

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confidence: 99%

Reassessment of Molecular Variation in Isolated Populations of <i>Deschampsia cespitosa</i> from Metal Contaminated Regions in Northern Ontario (Canada) after 17 Years of Potential Genetic Recombination

Rainville¹,

Beckett²,

Nkongolo³

2017

American Journal of Environmental Sciences

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Abstract:The effects of ore extraction and processing procedures in the Greater Sudbury and Cobalt regions have been long-lasting. The objective of this study is to determine the current level of genetic variation in Deschampsia cespitosa populations from metal contaminated and uncontaminated sites in samples collected in Northern Ontario in 2016 after 17 years of potential genetic recombination since the last study in 1999. D. cespitosa leaf samples collected from the City of Greater Sudbury (CGS), Cobalt and Little Current were analyzed using ISSR primers. The levels of genetic variation were moderate to high within targeted populations. There was no significant difference (p≤0.05) in the overall percent of polymorphic loci in metal-uncontaminated site of Little Current (from 70% in 1999 to 77% in 2016) and in a Cobalt Cart Lake site (from 48% in 1999 to 55% in 2016). But a significant decrease in genetic variation was observed in CGS Wahnapitae site (from 72% in 1999 to 54% in 2016). On the other hand, a significant increase was observed in Cobalt Nipissing (from 46% in 1999 to 64% in 2016). The Kelly Lake site in the CGS with the lowest level of polymorphic loci (42.5%) in 2016 was not surveyed in 1999. The degree of genetic relatedness among sites has increased since the populations are more genetically closely related than 17 years ago. No population-specific ISSR marker was identified. The clustering of Cobalt and Sudbury populations strengthens the earlier theory that Sudbury populations of D. cespitosa might be from the Cobalt region.

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“…Alternatively, genets may be identified by genetic markers, such as multiallelic self-incompatibility loci (Harberd, 1961(Harberd, , 1963, enzyme loci (Wu, Bradshaw and Thurman, 1975;Gray, Parsell and Scott, 1979;Silander, 1979;Jeffries and Gottlieb, 1983), and, potentially, restriction fragment length polymorphisms (see Helentjaris et a!., 1986). However, these methods are time-consuming and, in some cases, costly, and have been used with no gynodioecious species to date.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution and maintenance of gynodioecy in sexually and vegetatively reproducing plants

Stevens

Damme

1988

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The evolution and maintenance of gynodioecy is explored theoretically at the ramet level in models that allow for differences between females and hermaphrodites in vegetative components of fitness as well as in sexual components.For nuclear control of male sterility, it is shown that females may be maintained by selection in an otherwise hermaphrodite population through advantages over hermaphrodites in vegetative fitness components, even if there is no sex difference in maternal fitness components. The advantage required depends on the importance of vegetative reproduction. If females produce more daughter ramets than ovule offspring, the advantage in vegetative fitness components required to maintain females is numerically smaller than the well-known requirement of a two-fold advantage in maternal fitness components.Three further findings in the nuclear models are that (a) with some parameter combinations, females attain frequencies of higher than O•5, in which case their equilibrium frequency decreases rather than increases with increasing female advantage in seed fecundity; (b) the advantage in adult survivability required to maintain a given equilibrium frequency of females becomes smaller with increasing reliance on vegetative reproduction; and (c) the rate of approach to equilibrium is inversely proportional to the level of vegetative reproduction in the population as a whole.If male sterility is determined solely by cytoplasmic factors, females should be maintained if they have any advantage in vegetative reproduction over hermaphrodites, given that maternal fitness components are equal in the two sexes.For nuclear-cytoplasmic control, it is shown that the premise that a joint polymorphism for cytoplasmic male sterility and nuclear fertility restoration should not be maintained in the absence of differences in fitness between sex genotypes of the same sex phenotype (Charlesworth and Ganders, 1979) may be generalised to situations where sex differences in vegetative reproduction occur.The significance of vegetative reproduction in population genetic studies in general is briefly discussed.

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The potential for evolution of heavy metal tolerance in plants

Cited by 207 publications

References 24 publications

The genetics of metal tolerance in vascular plants

The genetics of metal tolerance in vascular plants

Reassessment of Molecular Variation in Isolated Populations of <i>Deschampsia cespitosa</i> from Metal Contaminated Regions in Northern Ontario (Canada) after 17 Years of Potential Genetic Recombination

The evolution and maintenance of gynodioecy in sexually and vegetatively reproducing plants

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