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JXB Advance Access published online on November 1, 2007
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erm241
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© 2007 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Spatial aluminium sensitivity of root apices of two common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes with contrasting aluminium resistance

Andrés F. Rangel1, Idupulapati M. Rao2 and Walter J. Horst1,*

1Institute of Plant Nutrition, Leibniz University Hannover, Herrenhaeuser Str. 2, D-30419 Hannover, Germany
2International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), AA 6713, Cali, Colombia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: horst{at}pflern.uni-hannover.de

The initial response of plants to aluminium (Al) is an inhibition of root elongation. In the present study, short and medium-term effects of Al treatment (20 µM) on root growth and Al accumulation of two common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes, VAX-1 (Al-sensitive) and Quimbaya (Al-resistant), were studied. Root elongation of both genotypes was severely inhibited during the first 3–4 h of Al treatment. Thereafter, both genotypes showed gradual recovery. However, this recovery continued in genotype Quimbaya until the root elongation rate reached the level of the control (without Al) while the genotype VAX-1 was increasingly damaged by Al after 12 h of Al treatment. Short-term Al treatment (90 µM Al) to different zones of the root apex using agarose blocks corroborated the importance of the transition zone (TZ, 1–2 mm) as a main target of Al. However, Al applied to the elongation zone (EZ) also contributed to the overall inhibition of root elongation. Enhanced inhibition of root elongation during the initial 4 h of Al treatment was related to high Al accumulation in root apices in both genotypes (Quimbaya>VAX-1). Recovery from Al stress was reflected by decreasing Al contents especially in the TZ, but also in the EZ. After 24 h of Al treatment the high Al resistance of Quimbaya was reflected by much lower Al contents in the entire root apex. The results confirmed that genotypic differences in Al resistance in common bean are built up during medium-term exposure of the roots to Al. For this acquisition of Al resistance, the activation and maintenance of an Al exclusion mechanism, especially in the TZ but also in the EZ, appears to be decisive.

Key words: Abiotic stress, aluminium toxicity, apical root zones, root acclimation, root growth pattern

Received 5 July 2007; Revised 12 September 2007 Accepted 13 September 2007


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