Arsenic detoxification in Eucalyptus: subcellular distribution, chemical forms, and sulfhydryl substances

The Eucalyptus cultivation acreage was large in Guangxi provinces. Guanglin 9 (Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus urophylla) is a widely cultivated Eucalyptus species and has been found to grow normally in soils contaminated by heavy metals such as arsenic (As), but the detoxification mechanisms are not clear yet. Through hydroponic experiment, the adsorption and detoxification of As in Eucalyptus were studied from three aspects, namely subcellular distribution of As, chemical forms of As, and the response of sulfhydryl substances. The subcellular distribution data showed that in the Eucalyptus roots, As was mainly present in the soluble fraction (66.3–79.9%), in leaves in the soluble fraction (50.6–53.8%), and the cell wall fraction (35.6–40.0%) under As stress. The chemical form data showed that in roots, As was mainly present in ethanol extraction state (29.5–40.0%), deionized water extraction state (28.3–31.7%), and sodium chloride extraction state (24.1–33.8%). As stress can induce the formation of non-protein thiols (NPT), glutathione (GSH), and phytochelatins (PCs). With the increasing As concentration, the NPT (maximum increase 55.9%) and GSH (maximum increase 79.9%) contents in roots significantly increased, while the PC content significantly increased and then significantly decreased. It is concluded that the As detoxification mechanisms of Eucalyptus are mainly vacuolar compartmentalization and the chelation of sulfhydryl substances, while cell wall adsorption and As chemical forms have limited effects on As detoxification.