{"title":"Investigating growth responses and expression patterns of nicotine biosynthesis genes in tobacco plants treated with cadmium","authors":"Parvaneh Mahmoudi, Elham Mohajel Kazemi, Hanieh Mohajjel Shoja, Maryam Kolahi","doi":"10.1007/s11738-025-03789-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Cadmium (Cd), an unnecessary trace element in plants, destructively affects ecosystems. This pollutant exists everywhere in the environment, enters the plant through the soil, and causes extensive changes from the macro to the cellular level. This study investigated the effect of cadmium chloride (CdCl<sub>2</sub>) at three concentrations of 0, 1, and 1.5 mM on morphological, biochemical, and molecular indicators in the <i>Nicotiana tabacum</i> plant as a significant agricultural plant and a common model organism. The results showed that an increase in CdCl<sub>2</sub> concentration significantly decreased plant growth and the concentration of photosynthetic pigments compared to the control plant. In contrast, the amounts of soluble sugar, free amino acids, and total phenol increased in plants under stress. In addition, the amount of nicotine and the expression of genes related to the pathway of nicotine biosynthesis increased in plants under Cd stress. The expression of <i>NtA622</i>, <i>NtQPT</i>, <i>NtODC</i>, and <i>NtPMT</i> genes at 1 mM CdCl<sub>2</sub> increased by 2, 1.7, 2.4, and 2.9 times, respectively, and at 1.5 mM, CdCl<sub>2</sub> increased by 2.9, 2.2, 2.7, and 3.8 times, respectively, compared to the control plant. Therefore, among the four studied genes, the relative expression of the <i>NtPMT</i> gene (the significant gene of the nicotine biosynthesis pathway) was higher. The nicotine content increased by 17.9% and 25.4% with 1- and 1.5-mM CdCl<sub>2</sub> compared to the control plant. Tobacco cultivation in Cd-contaminated environments should be managed and it seems that using Cd can increase the biosynthesis of nicotine for agricultural and medicinal purposes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6973,"journal":{"name":"Acta Physiologiae Plantarum","volume":"47 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta Physiologiae Plantarum","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11738-025-03789-2","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Cadmium (Cd), an unnecessary trace element in plants, destructively affects ecosystems. This pollutant exists everywhere in the environment, enters the plant through the soil, and causes extensive changes from the macro to the cellular level. This study investigated the effect of cadmium chloride (CdCl2) at three concentrations of 0, 1, and 1.5 mM on morphological, biochemical, and molecular indicators in the Nicotiana tabacum plant as a significant agricultural plant and a common model organism. The results showed that an increase in CdCl2 concentration significantly decreased plant growth and the concentration of photosynthetic pigments compared to the control plant. In contrast, the amounts of soluble sugar, free amino acids, and total phenol increased in plants under stress. In addition, the amount of nicotine and the expression of genes related to the pathway of nicotine biosynthesis increased in plants under Cd stress. The expression of NtA622, NtQPT, NtODC, and NtPMT genes at 1 mM CdCl2 increased by 2, 1.7, 2.4, and 2.9 times, respectively, and at 1.5 mM, CdCl2 increased by 2.9, 2.2, 2.7, and 3.8 times, respectively, compared to the control plant. Therefore, among the four studied genes, the relative expression of the NtPMT gene (the significant gene of the nicotine biosynthesis pathway) was higher. The nicotine content increased by 17.9% and 25.4% with 1- and 1.5-mM CdCl2 compared to the control plant. Tobacco cultivation in Cd-contaminated environments should be managed and it seems that using Cd can increase the biosynthesis of nicotine for agricultural and medicinal purposes.
期刊介绍:
Acta Physiologiae Plantarum is an international journal established in 1978 that publishes peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of plant physiology. The coverage ranges across this research field at various levels of biological organization, from relevant aspects in molecular and cell biology to biochemistry.
The coverage is global in scope, offering articles of interest from experts around the world. The range of topics includes measuring effects of environmental pollution on crop species; analysis of genomic organization; effects of drought and climatic conditions on plants; studies of photosynthesis in ornamental plants, and more.