Evaluation of Lentil Germplasm for Arsenic Uptake

Arsenic contamination of groundwater, surface water and land is a public health issue throughout the world. Arsenic can be taken up from soil by plants and accumulate in vegetative and reproductive plant tissues where they pose a human health threat through consumption, inhalation or touch. Different plant species and genotypes within species have varying abilities to detoxify, sequester or remove arsenic from their cells. A common mechanism contributing to low arsenic uptake in crops is the shutdown of phosphate transporters designed to function in low soil P conditions (“high affinity phosphate transporters”). The studies described here sought to address variation for arsenic uptake in lentil genotypes and the relationship of that variation to phosphorus. Lentils ( Lens culinaris ) are an important source of dietary fiber worldwide especially in the Middle East, Asia, and North Africa. Major lentil-producing countries that have agricultural lands impacted by toxic levels of arsenic include China, India and Bangladesh. Cultivar differences for arsenic uptake have been tentatively identified in lentils.