The Effect of Salinity Pretreatment on Cd Accumulation and Cd-Induced Stress in BADH-Transgenic and Nontransgenic Rice Seedlings

The influence of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH) and salinity pretreatment on oxidative stress under cadmium (Cd) toxicity was investigated in rice cv. Xiushui 11 and its BADH-transgenic line Bxiushui 11. The results showed that plants previously treated with 4.25 and 8.5 mM NaCl, respectively, for 5 days each had higher Cd concentrations in both roots and shoots of the two rice genotypes compared with the controls. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content in both leaves and roots was increased by salinity pretreatment and was significantly lower in the salinity-pretreatment plants than in the controls when the plants were consequently exposed to Cd stress. Salinity pretreatment also increased proline content and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) in both leaves and roots. It can be assumed that salinity pretreatment enhances the defensive ability of plants against oxidative stress through increasing activities of antioxidative enzymes. The BADH-transgenic line (Bxiushui 11) had lower Cd and MDA content, higher SOD and POD activities, and higher proline content than its wild type (Xiushui 11). The current results suggest that betaine, a product of BADH expression, improves the tolerance of rice plants to Cd stress through increasing the activities of antioxidative enzymes and osmoprotectant content.