Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils poses a significant threat to human health through the food chain. It is of great significance to address safe wheat production in Cd-contaminated agricultural soils. This study employed foliar spraying of ferulic acid (FA) in both hydroponic and field trials to investigate its potential in alleviating Cd toxicity and reducing Cd accumulation in wheat grains. Our findings revealed that FA application at 20 and 50 μM promoted plant growth, increased photosynthetic efficiency, and enhanced root tolerance to Cd by increasing mean root diameter, surface area, and root tip number, as well as enhancing antioxidant defense in roots. Especially, 20 μM FA foliar application significantly alleviated Cd-induced growth inhibition in seedlings and reduced grain Cd content by 66.3% compared to Cd-stressed alone. Mechanistically, FA downregulated the Cd transporter gene TaHAM2 to reduce Cd translocation from roots to shoots, while upregulated the Cd cellular compartment gene TaHAM3 to increase root Cd retention, of which 82.9% was sequestered in roots. During the grain-filling period in the field trial, FA application reduced Cd transport from roots to stems and stems to rachides, but enhanced Cd retention in rachides and roots. Additionally, FA downregulated the phloem Cd loading gene LCT1, limiting Cd allocation to bracts and grains, which in turn lowered the Cd content in the grains. Collectively, FA foliar application modulated Cd transport pathways by coordinately downregulating xylem and phloem transporter genes and enhancing root Cd retention capacity. These findings established FA as a promising strategy for Cd detoxification and reduced accumulation in crop grains through integrated physiological and molecular interventions. Overall, it holds potential for the future development of safe crop production in soils polluted with Cd.
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Claims 15
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar ferulic acid at 20 and 50 μM promoted wheat growth under cadmium stress.
- Taxon
- Wheat
Triticum aestivumt0 - Treatment
- FA application at 20 and 50 μMe0
- Outcome
- plant growthe0
- Direction
- promotede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“FA application at 20 and 50 μM promoted plant growth”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar ferulic acid at 20 and 50 μM increased wheat photosynthetic efficiency.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- FA application at 20 and 50 μMe0
- Outcome
- photosynthetic efficiencye0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“FA application at 20 and 50 μM promoted plant growth, increased photosynthetic efficiency”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Ferulic acid enhanced root tolerance to cadmium.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- root tolerance to Cde0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“enhanced root tolerance to Cd by increasing mean root diameter, surface area, and root tip number, as well as enhancing antioxidant defense in roots”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Ferulic acid increased mean root diameter, surface area and root tip number.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- mean root diameter, surface area, and root tip numbere0
- Direction
- increasinge0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increasing mean root diameter, surface area, and root tip number”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Ferulic acid enhanced antioxidant defense in roots.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- antioxidant defense in rootse0
- Direction
- enhancinge0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“enhancing antioxidant defense in roots”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
A 20 μM ferulic acid foliar application alleviated cadmium-induced seedling growth inhibition.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- 20 μM FA foliar applicatione0
- Outcome
- Cd-induced growth inhibition in seedlingse0
- Direction
- alleviatede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“20 μM FA foliar application significantly alleviated Cd-induced growth inhibition in seedlings”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
A 20 μM ferulic acid foliar application reduced grain cadmium content by 66.3% compared with cadmium stress alone.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- 20 μM FA foliar applicatione1
- Outcome
- grain Cd contente0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Value
- 66.3%e0
- Comparator
- Cd-stressed alonee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“reduced grain Cd content by 66.3% compared to Cd-stressed alone”
e1“20 μM FA foliar application significantly alleviated Cd-induced growth inhibition in seedlings”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Ferulic acid downregulated TaHAM2 and reduced cadmium movement from roots to shoots.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- FAe0
- Gene
- TaHAM2e0
- Outcome
- Cd translocation from roots to shootse0
- Direction
- reducee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“FA downregulated the Cd transporter gene TaHAM2 to reduce Cd translocation from roots to shoots”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Ferulic acid upregulated TaHAM3 and increased cadmium retention in roots.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“upregulated the Cd cellular compartment gene TaHAM3 to increase root Cd retention”
e1“FA downregulated the Cd transporter gene TaHAM2”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Of retained cadmium, 82.9% was sequestered in roots.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- sequestered in rootse0
- Value
- 82.9%e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“82.9% was sequestered in roots”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
During field grain filling, ferulic acid reduced cadmium transport from roots to stems.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- FA applicatione0
- Outcome
- Cd transport from roots to stemse0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Setting
- field triale0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“During the grain-filling period in the field trial, FA application reduced Cd transport from roots to stems and stems to rachides”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
During field grain filling, ferulic acid reduced cadmium transport from stems to rachides.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- FA applicatione0
- Outcome
- Cd transport from roots to stems and stems to rachidese0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Setting
- field triale0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“During the grain-filling period in the field trial, FA application reduced Cd transport from roots to stems and stems to rachides”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
During field grain filling, ferulic acid enhanced cadmium retention in rachides and roots.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- FA applicatione1
- Outcome
- Cd retention in rachides and rootse0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“enhanced Cd retention in rachides and roots”
e1“FA application reduced Cd transport from roots to stems and stems to rachides”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Ferulic acid downregulated LCT1 and limited cadmium allocation to bracts and grains.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- FAe0
- Gene
- LCT1e0
- Outcome
- Cd allocation to bracts and grainse0
- Direction
- limitinge0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“FA downregulated the phloem Cd loading gene LCT1, limiting Cd allocation to bracts and grains”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Reduced cadmium allocation lowered grain cadmium content.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- Cd content in the grainse0
- Direction
- lowerede0
- Qualifier
- limiting Cd allocation to bracts and grainse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“which in turn lowered the Cd content in the grains”
e1“limiting Cd allocation to bracts and grains”
t0“Wheat”
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