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Metabolic response of bok choy leaves under chromium pollution stress

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Abstract

Chromium (Cr) pollution in farmlands is a common environmental issue, that can seriously inhibit plant growth, damage plant cells, and even cause plant death. In this study, bok choy (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis Makino (var. communis Tsen et Lee)) was selected as a model plant to investigate the metabolic response to Cr stress at concentrations of 2.0 mg/L and 8.0 mg/L. Metabolites were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis and orthogonal projections to latent structure discriminant analysis revealed the notable effect of Cr stress on the metabolites of bok choy. Under Cr stress, 145 metabolites were identified in the bok choy leaves. At 2.0 mg/L Cr stress, 10 and 26 metabolites changed compared to the control after 7 d and 14 d, respectively. At 8.0 mg/L Cr stress, 24 and 24 metabolites changed significantly after 7 and 14 d, respectively. The data showed that metabolism was affected by the Cr stress concentration and exposure time. Specifically, under the Cr stress, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase cycle, and partial amino acid metabolic pathways were blocked, inhibiting the normal growth and development of bok choy. The change of citric acid content was the most significant, and the accumulation of citric acid indicated the degree of plant Cr toxicity and resistance. These results would facilitate further dissection of the mechanisms of heavy metal accumulation/tolerance in plants and the effective management of such contamination in vegetable crops by genetic manipulation.

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Funding

This study was funded by Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation of China (ZJNSF, Project No. LY17D010003), Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (Project No. 2019C54002), and Wenzhou Science and Technology Bureau (Project No. S20160002).

Author contributions

JZ and YT conceptualized and planned the framework. JW, SW, YL, and QZ have carried out the mentioned experiments and collected the literature. YW and LL drafted the manuscript. HC planned the framework and made the final version of the manuscript. All the authors read and approve the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China

    Jiangmin Zhou, Jingjing Wang, Yueliang Tao, Shuijuan Wang, Yuechang Li & Hualin Chen

  2. Zhejiang Zone-King Environmental Science & Technolgy Co., Ltd, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Yufeng Wang, Lei Liu & Qiansong Zheng

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  1. Jiangmin Zhou
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  2. Jingjing Wang
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  5. Lei Liu
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  6. Shuijuan Wang
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  7. Yuechang Li
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  8. Qiansong Zheng
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  9. Hualin Chen
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Correspondence to Hualin Chen.

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Zhou, J., Wang, J., Tao, Y. et al. Metabolic response of bok choy leaves under chromium pollution stress. Ecotoxicology 30, 231–239 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-020-02344-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-020-02344-8

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