Maize is diagnosed as a heavy metal (HM) accumulator, while the tolerance mechanism is not sufficiently known. A hydroponic experiment was performed to test the ability of maize plants to tolerate and accumulate Cu. Excess copper treatments (ECu; 5 and 10 μM CuSO₄) considerably reduced plant growth, photosynthetic pigments, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and guaiacol peroxidase (POD) activity. However, ECu significantly enhanced catalase (CAT) activity. ECu treatments reduced the leaf membrane integrity as indicated by increasing malondialdehyde (MDA) content in leaves. Proline and phenolic contents were considerably increased in maize organelles by ECu toxicity. ECu treatments considerably stimulated free amino acid (FAA) accumulation, total-soluble proteins (TSPs), and K in shoots, whereas these parameters did not change in the roots. Applications of CuSO₄ did not affect the accumulation of total soluble sugars (TSSs) in shoots, while this accumulation enhanced in roots. CuSO₄ treatments significantly increased the Cu concentration and uptake but decreased the Cu translocation factor (TF) and bioaccumulation factor (BF). Structural components such as cell wall components, proteins, lipids, and sugars were affected by ECu stress, as shown by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis. These results give a new insight into the strategy, which maize can use to treat the Cu-polluted environment as Cu accumulates within seedling tissues and the seedling can protect itself from ECu stress.

玉米被诊断为重金属 (HM) 蓄积物，而耐受机制尚不清楚。进行了水培实验以测试玉米植物耐受和积累铜的能力。过量铜处理（ECu；5 和 10 μM C​​uSO ₄) 显着降低植物生长、光合色素、抗坏血酸过氧化物酶 (APX) 和愈创木酚过氧化物酶 (POD) 活性。然而，ECu 显着增强了过氧化氢酶（CAT）的活性。ECu 处理降低了叶膜的完整性，这表现为叶片中丙二醛 (MDA) 含量的增加。玉米细胞器中的脯氨酸和酚类含量因 ECu 毒性而显着增加。ECu 处理显着刺激了芽中的游离氨基酸 (FAA) 积累、总可溶性蛋白 (TSP) 和钾，而这些参数在根中没有变化。CuSO ₄的施用不影响总可溶性糖（TSSs）在枝条中的积累，而这种积累在根中增强。硫酸铜₄处理显着增加了Cu浓度和吸收，但降低了Cu易位因子（TF）和生物蓄积因子（BF）。如红外光谱 (FT-IR) 分析所示，细胞壁成分、蛋白质、脂质和糖等结构成分受到 ECu 应力的影响。这些结果为该策略提供了新的见解，玉米可以用来处理铜污染的环境，因为铜在幼苗组织内积累，幼苗可以保护自己免受 ECu 胁迫。