Metabolic Profile of Qualea Grandiflora mart. (Vochysiaceae) Reveals the Importance of Aluminium in This Plant Metabolism

Title: Metabolic profile of Qualea
grandiflora Mart. (Vochysiaceae) reveals the
importance of aluminium in this plant metabolism.

Jessica Regina Melo*, Renata Cristina Costa e Silva,
Thomas Christopher Rhys Williams, João Pedro Scheidemantel Conceição Silva, Luiz Alfredo Rodrigues
Pereira.

*University of Brazilian, Postal Code 70910-90, Brazil.

Abstract: The trivalent aluminum ion (Al⁺³) is
highly toxic and a major cause of stress to sensitive plants in acid soils.
However, many species are well adapted to conditions of acid soils and high Al
concentrations. Plant Al-adaptation mechanisms are classified as following: a)
resistance, where Al is excluded by the root system preventing its entrance
into the plant, and; b) tolerance where Al is taken up by the plant and its
toxic effects are neutralized internally. Moreover, some native species from
the Cerrado, besides accumulating Al, exhibit
apparent deficiency symptoms in its absence. Therefore, the objective of this
work was to study the physiological and metabolic changes in Qualea
grandiflora Mart. grown with and without Al, as well as to analyze the
effects of the absence of Al on chloroplast ultrastructure. Metabolite
profiling of leaves together with plant growth analysis and measurement of
photosynthetic pigments from plants of both treatments was therefore carried
out. Furthermore, we conducted a comparison of chloroplast ultrastructure in Q.
grandiflora leaves taken from plants grown with and without Al.
Al-supplemented plants grew better than those of the control and had higher
contents of chlorophylls (a e b) and carotenoids
(24.73, 8.27 and 6.20 mg.cm^-2). The ultrastructural
analysis revealed that the absence of Al during plant development led to
progressive disintegration of chloroplasts. The metabolic profiles showed a
relationship between levels of organic acids (citrate and oxalate) and Al in
leaf tissue, suggesting the involvement of these acids in Al-chelation. The
results of this study indicate that Al plays an important role in Q.
grandiflora metabolism.

Keywords: Al-accumulating, Vochysiaceae, chloroplasts, organic acids

Biography

Jessica
Regina Melo is a master’s degree student at the
Department of Botany, University of Brazilian. Her thesis proposal is directed
towards analyzing the effect of the Al absence in accumulating plants from Cerrado, and unravelling the
tolerance mechanism of these plants. This research has been funded by FAPDF
(Research funding foundation of Brasilia) and CAPES (Coordination for the
Improvement of Higher Education Personnel).

Presenting
author details

Full name: Jessica Regina Melo

Contact number: 55(61) 98211-9810

Email adress:
jessicamelo2010@yahoo.com.br

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