
	Heavy metal tolerant plants working group
	Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences

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Plant cell working group

Department of plant physiology

Institute of Botany

Slovak Academy of Sciences

RECENT PROJECTS

Structural and physiological characteristics of roots in three Arabidopsis species with diverse strategies in their response to metal toxicity.

Principal investigator: Milada Čiamporová
Participants: Miriam Nadubinská, Miroslav Ovečka, Peter Illéš, Viera Banásová, František Baluška, Adriana Machlicová, Erika Gurinová
Funding body: VEGA Project No.0149, 2008-2010

The species Arabidopsis thaliana, the best known model in plant-sciences molecular and genetic research, and the two related species, A. halleri, and A. arenosa, differ in their response strategies to elevated concentrations of metal ions. In contrast to non-accumulating A. thaliana, the species A. halleri as Zn, Cd hyperaccumulator and A. arenosa as indicator plant tolerate heavy metals in the soils. Physiological and molecular mechanisms of metal tolerance are studied mostly in A. thaliana (Al) and A. halleri (Zn) and occasionally compared to A. arenosa. This project will provide new data on structural and physiological traits of the roots and root hairs that are primarily responsible for uptake of metal ions, using A. thaliana, A. halleri, and A. arenosa as model plants. Most of the experimental plants will originate from their natural habitats on the territory of Slovakia. Thus the results will also extend the data based on accessions from other (mostly European) localities.

The participation of endomembranes in the maintenance of root hair polarity in response to abiotic stress

Principal investigator: Miroslav Ovečka
Participants: Milada Čiamporová, František Baluška, Viera Banásová, Peter Illéš, Miriam Nadubinská, Halina Vargová
Funding body: APVV Project No.0432-06, 2007-2009

Tip growth is highly polarized mode of cell elongation. Fundamental questions concerning the regulation of the tip growth are still open. The aim of our project is the characterization of the integrity of growing tips by modern non-invasive cell biological methods. We shall study sterol distribution in the plasma membrane, behaviour of endomembrane components and the endocytosis in different developmental stages of root hair formation. Special attention will be paid to the developmental role of sterols in tip growing root hair and effects of altered sterol composition in membranes on plant cell polarity. All the mentioned aspects of root hair development will be studied in relation to changing environmental conditions, with physiological and elevated metal contents. The results will contribute to understanding of cooperation among the components determining root hair tip growth.

FINISHED PROJECTS

Plants from heavy metal polluted habitats: their communities, structural and physiological adaptations

Principal investigator: Milada Čiamporová
Participants: Viera Banásová, Miriam Nadubinská, Miroslav Ovečka, Peter Illéš, Halina Vargová, Lucia Mikolajová, Jozef Krištín (Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave)
Funding body: VEGA Project No.5086, 2005-2007

High concentrations of heavy metals in soils and other substrates are toxic for most plants. There are, however, some exceptional plants that have adapted to these hostile conditions, the so-called metallophytes. They can grow in habitats with natural or man-made toxic concentrations of heavy metals. These tolerant plants became interesting because it is hoped that they could contribute to remediation or re-cultivation the contaminated soils. Thus, the understanding the plant communities and mechanisms of their adaptation are important. Interesting species, as for instance Silene vulgaris and Acetosella vulgaris, grow in the selected localities with comparable soil conditions in Slovakia and Austria. The comparison of the localities in the two countries, characteristics of their plant communities and populations, and of the plant structural traits that may be important for adaptation as well as of their physiological responses such as uptake, accumulation of the metals and root growth, will bring new information. The combination of such variety of approaches will provide a more complex evaluation of the toxic effects of heavy metals.

The impact of toxic mine wastes on plant life.

Principal investigators: Viera Banásová (Slovakia), Irene Lichtscheidl (Austria)
Participants: Milada Čiamporová, Peter Illéš, Miriam Nadubinská, Miroslav Ovečka (Slovakia)
Wolfram Adlassnig, Othmar Horak, Marianne Peroutka, Michael Volgger, (Austria)
Funding body: Aktion Österreich – Slowakei, Project No. 57s09, 2007

The goals of the project are:

To gain original results about vegetation structure and structural and physiological adaptations of plants.
Exploration and comparison of the plant communities and plant adaptations in Austrian and Slovakian habitats, which are similar in their environments, including heavy metal contents.
Organization of field work excursions for university students: directly on original heavy metal rich sites, plant composition and vegetation ecology are explained.
Material from original habitats is used for experiments in laboratory conditions, which are aimed to study plant tolerance to heavy metals.

Last updated: 06. 02. 2008