Evolutionary traits of heavy metal allocation and tolerance in sensitive and tolerant populations of Biscutella laevigata from southern Poland

Fig. 1: Screening of the genotype reactions during an hydroponic experiment. Foto: Pierre Vollenweider

Heavy metals can occur at elevated soil concentrations as a consequence of the underlying bedrock or industrial activities, impairing plant establishment and growth. Tolerance to elevated concentrations of heavy metals has been developed by a small number of species which also form model systems to study evolutionary processes of adaptation to metal-contaminated environments. Hence, Biscutella laevigata, an herbaceous plant species related to several metal hyperaccumulators, is found in metalliferous as well as non-metalliferous sites of southern Poland but, by contrast with other members of the Brassicaceae family, has been so far little investigated. The present collaboration project aims at combining skills developed at WSL in metal microlocalisation with those in HM research from a Polish research team based in Krakow with a view to characterizing mechanistic aspects of metal accumulation and tolerance and relating them to the genetic structure of populations of Biscutella laevigata with varying genotypes, phenotypes, metal accumulation and tolerance. At WSL, plant material issued of seeds harvested at several sites of southern Poland has been exposed to elevated Zn during experiments in fully controlled hydroponic conditions as to obtain differentiated phenotypic expression between genotypes and characterize each genotype tolerance. In a second step, Zn allocation in tissues of foliar material is being analyzed using a histochemical assay and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Elemental and genetic analysis are being performed separately. The expected results should provide innovative insights on metal homeostasis processes selected by plant evolution under the constrain of extreme and changing environmental conditions.

Participants

• Pierre Vollenweider (Project leader)
• Alicja Babst-Kostecka
• Katarzyna Czober
• Terry Menard

Partners

• Prof. Dr. Barbara Godzik, Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland

Contact

• Pierre Vollenweider
  

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