Evaluation of Cadmium Effects on Six Solanum melongena L. Cultivars from the Mediterranean Basin

Cadmium (Cd) contamination is a severe problem in the environment and produces detrimental effects on crop productivity and quality. Characterization of crop performance at different Cd concentrations is crucial to identify pollution-safe cultivars with low translocation efficiency to aboveground or...

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Published in:Agriculture (Basel) 2022-07, Vol.12 (7), p.1059
Main Authors: Filippone, Edgardo, Tranchida-Lombardo, Valentina, Vitiello, Alessia, Ruiu, Fabrizio, Di Salvatore, Mina, Galise, Teresa Rosa, Laccetti, Lucrezia, Amoresano, Angela, D’Ambrosio, Gennaro, Frusciante, Luigi, Scopece, Giovanni, Chiaiese, Pasquale
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Basins
Bioaccumulation
Cadmium
Carotenoids
Chlorophyll
Comparative studies
Crop production
Crops
Cultivars
Diversification
eggplant
Flowers & plants
Food contamination
Food safety
Gene expression
Gene families
Genes
Germination
Heavy metals
Metabolism
Organs
Photosynthesis
Photosynthetic pigments
physiological responses
Pigments
Seeds
Solanum melongena
Survival
tolerance
trace metals
Translocation
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Summary:Cadmium (Cd) contamination is a severe problem in the environment and produces detrimental effects on crop productivity and quality. Characterization of crop performance at different Cd concentrations is crucial to identify pollution-safe cultivars with low translocation efficiency to aboveground organs to be used for food safety. Here, we estimated germination, survival, growth, photosynthetic pigments, Cd bioaccumulation, among-organs translocation, and ionic balance in six Solanum melongena L. (eggplant) cultivars from the central Mediterranean basin. On two cultivars, we also analyzed expression of genes involved in Cd uptake, i.e., heavy metal ATPases (HMAs) and metal tolerance proteins (MTPs). We found that Cd has a negative effect on all the investigated parameters but with relevant among-cultivar differences. Cd-treated plants showed a decrease in germination rate and survival. Photosynthetic pigments showed opposite trends, i.e., with increasing Cd contents, we observed a decrease in chlorophylls and an increase in carotenoids. The investigated cultivars showed high ability of sequestrating Cd in roots but a low translocation efficiency to the aboveground organs, suggesting a good potential for food safety. The response of plants to Cd was mediated by a different expression of the MTP and HMA gene families. Our study represents the first comprehensive investigation of Cd tolerance in eggplant varieties from the Mediterranean basin and highlights the importance of comparative studies to identify Cd-tolerant cultivars.
ISSN:2077-0472
2077-0472
DOI:10.3390/agriculture12071059