Soil application of FeCl3 and Fe2(SO4)3 reduced grain cadmium concentration in Polish wheat (Triticum polonicum L.)

https://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12870-024-05652-x

BMC Plant Biology，24, Article number:930(2024)

Qin Yao,Yueying Yang,Jia Chen,Xiaoying Li,Miao He,Dan Long,Jian Zeng,Dandan Wu,Lina Sha,Xing Fan,Houyang Kang,Haiqin Zhang,Yonghong Zhou,Yi Wang&Yiran Cheng

Abstract

Background

Wheat is one of major sources of human cadmium (Cd) intake. Reducing the grain Cd concentrations in wheat is urgently required to ensure food security and human health. In this study, we performed a field experiment at Wenjiang experimental field of Sichuan Agricultural University (Chengdu, China) to reveal the effects of FeCl3and Fe2(SO4)3on reducing grain Cd concentrations in dwarf Polish wheat (Triticum polonicumL., 2n = 4x = 28, AABB).

Results

Soil application of FeCl3and Fe2(SO4)3(0.04 M Fe3+/m2) significantly reduced grain Cd concentration in DPW at maturity by 19.04% and 33.33%, respectively. They did not reduce Cd uptake or root-to-shoot Cd translocation, but increased Cd distribution in lower leaves, lower internodes, and glumes. Meanwhile, application of FeCl3and Fe2(SO4)3up-regulated the expression ofTpNRAMP5,TpNRAMP2andTpYSL15in roots, andTpYSL15andTpZIP3in shoots; they also downregulated the expression ofTpZIP1andTpZIP3in roots, andTpIRT1andTpNRAMP5in shoots.

Conclusions

The reduction in grain Cd concentration caused by application of FeCl3and Fe2(SO4)3was resulted from changes in shoot Cd distribution via regulating the expression of some metal transporter genes. Overall, this study reports the physiological pathways of soil applied Fe fertilizer on grain Cd concentration in wheat, suggests a strategy for reducing grain Cd concentration by altering shoot Cd distribution.