Indirect reference to the physiological effects of Al through microscopy techniques in Cerrado native species

• Grant number: 14/14386-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2015
• End date: October 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Gustavo Habermann
• Grantee: Anna Carolina Gressler Bressan
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Aluminum (Al) is one of the most abundant elements in the Earth's crust, and has been pointed out as one of the major factors limiting plant growth and global agricultural yields, especially in acidic soils. On the other hand, native species growing on acidic soils rich in Al can avoid or tolerate Al toxicity. In the Cerrado there are species that accumulate between 1,000 and 18,000 mg Al per kg of leaf dry mass (LDM) with no apparent damages to their structures. However, most Cerrado species are non-accumulators, and retain 300 to 1000 mg Al per kg LDM. Structural and functional relationships between these species and Al are still poorly understood, requiring further studies to address possible physiological roles for Al in plants from these functional groups. Non-accumulating species grow and develop on acidic soils rich in Al with no damages to their structures, which may suggest the existence of mechanisms of Al exclusion in these species, as already described for Al-tolerant plants. Regarding Al-accumulators, there is one single report (Andrade et al., 2011) that evidenced Al storage in chloroplasts of Vochysiaceae plants, suggesting a physiological role for Al in photosynthesis. Assuming that non-accumulating species are able to secrete organic acids from the root apex, and that in accumulating species Al is absorbed, chelated and transported to the shoots, we will test the following hypotheses, using different microscopy techniques (light microscopy, TEM, SEM and confocal fluorescence microscopy): h1) Al injected into non-accumulating plants cause symptoms of phytotoxicity; h2) accumulating and non-accumulating species grown in the presence of Al show more mitochondria in their root tips when compared to when they grow on Al-free media; and that h3) chloroplasts are not final destinations of Al in these two plant groups. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BRESSAN, ANNA CAROLINA GRESSLER; DE OLIVEIRA CARVALHO BITTENCOURT, BRENDA MISTRAL; SILVA, GISELLE SCHWAB; HABERMANN, GUSTAVO. Could the absence of aluminum (Al) impair the development of an Al-accumulating woody species from Brazilian savanna?. THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, v. 33, n. 3, JUL 2021. (18/25658-2, 18/15359-8, 14/14386-0)

NOGUEIRA, MATHEUS ARMELIN; BRESSAN, ANNA C. G.; PINHEIRO, MARCELO H. O.; HABERMANN, GUSTAVO. Aluminum-accumulating Vochysiaceae species growing on a calcareous soil in Brazil. PLANT AND SOIL, v. 437, n. 1-2, p. 313-326, APR 2019. (14/14386-0)

BRESSAN, ANNA C. G.; SILVA, GISELLE S.; BANHOS, OTAVIA F. A. A.; TANAKA, FRANCISCO A. O.; HABERMANN, GUSTAVO. Physiological, anatomical and ultrastructural effects of aluminum onStyrax camporum, a native Cerrado woody species. JOURNAL OF PLANT RESEARCH, v. 133, n. 5, p. 625-637, SEP 2020. (14/14386-0, 18/25658-2)

SILVA, CAROLINA M. S.; CAVALHEIRO, MARIANA F.; BRESSAN, ANNA C. G.; CARVALHO, BRENDA M. O.; BANHOS, OTAVIA F. A. A.; PURGATTO, EDUARDO; HARAKAVA, RICARDO; TANAKA, FRANCISCO A. O.; HABERMANN, GUSTAVO. Aluminum-induced high IAA concentration may explain the Al susceptibility in Citrus limonia. Plant Growth Regulation, v. 87, n. 1, p. 123-137, JAN 2019. (16/14216-3, 13/11370-3, 13/07914-8, 14/14386-0)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

BRESSAN, Anna Carolina Gressler. Responses of native species of the Cerrado to different concentrations of aluminum (Al). 2018. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. Rio Claro Rio Claro.