Makuch-Pietraś Iwona, Grabek-Lejko Dorota, Górka Anna, Kasprzyk Idalia
Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Institute of Agricultural Science, Land Management and Environmental Protection, College of Natural Sciences, University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 4, 35-601, Rzeszów, Poland.
Department of Bioenergetics, Food Analysis and Microbiology, Institute of Food Technology and Nutrition, College of Natural Sciences, University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 4, 35-601, Rzeszów, Poland.
J Biol Eng. 2023 Mar 6;17(1):19. doi: 10.1186/s13036-022-00322-8.
Birch is a tree with a common occurrence in the environment and its organs are used in the form of herbal material. An important aspect of this study is birch pollen, which is a problem for allergy sufferers, and due to a variety of environmental conditions, its allergenicity may increase. Among the organs studied, inflorescences deserve attention, which, as seen from an overview of the literature, are analysed for the content of heavy metals for the first time in this study.
This paper investigated the relationship between antioxidant properties and the content of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni and Cr) as the plant's response to stress, taking into account both the vegetative and generative organs of the tree Betula pendula. While studying the accumulation of elements in individual organs, the research was extended to include the aspect of different environmental conditions, reflected in two soil types of differing physicochemical properties: sandy and silty soils. In order to thoroughly analyse the transport of the studied heavy metals from the soil to individual organs (leaves, inflorescences and pollen), ecotoxicological indicators were used. A modified translocation factor (TF) index into sTF (sap translocation factor) was presented as a novelty in research, calculated based on the content of selected heavy metals in the sap flowing to individual birch organs. This allowed for a more complete description of the transport of elements in the aerial parts of plants, indicating the accumulation of zinc and cadmium, especially in leaves. Among the studied environmental conditions which may affect the accumulation of heavy metals, sandy soil is of particular significance, conditioning lower pH values, among other things. However, analysis of the reaction of birch to the conditions of the soil environment and the content of heavy metals, based on antioxidant properties, demonstrated an evident reaction to stress, but without an unambiguous response among the studied vegetative and generative organs.
As birch is a plant with wide utility values, monitoring studies are advisable to exclude the risk of accumulation of heavy metals in its organs, and for this purpose it may be useful to use the sTF indicator and assess the antioxidant potential.
桦树是一种在环境中常见的树木，其器官被用作草药材料。本研究的一个重要方面是桦树花粉，这对过敏患者来说是个问题，并且由于各种环境条件，其致敏性可能会增加。在所研究的器官中，花序值得关注，从文献综述来看，本研究首次对其重金属含量进行分析。
本文研究了欧洲白桦营养器官和生殖器官中抗氧化特性与重金属（铜、锌、镉、铅、镍和铬）含量之间的关系，以此作为植物对胁迫的响应，并考虑了两种理化性质不同的土壤类型（砂土和粉质土）所反映的不同环境条件。为了深入分析所研究的重金属从土壤到各个器官（叶片、花序和花粉）的转运情况，使用了生态毒理学指标。研究提出了一种将转运因子（TF）指数修改为sTF（汁液转运因子）的新方法，该指数基于流向欧洲白桦各个器官的汁液中选定重金属的含量进行计算。这使得对植物地上部分元素转运的描述更加完整，表明锌和镉尤其在叶片中积累。在所研究的可能影响重金属积累的环境条件中，砂土具有特殊意义，它会导致较低的pH值等情况。然而，基于抗氧化特性分析白桦对土壤环境条件和重金属含量的反应表明，它对胁迫有明显反应，但在所研究的营养器官和生殖器官中没有明确的响应。
由于桦树是一种具有广泛实用价值的植物，建议进行监测研究以排除其器官中重金属积累的风险，为此使用sTF指标并评估抗氧化潜力可能会有所帮助。
