Individual and mutual effects of elevated carbon dioxide and temperature on salt and cadmium uptake and translocation by rice seedlings

Plant kingdoms are facing increasingly harsh environmental challenges marked by the coexposure of salinity and pollution in the pedosphere and elevated CO(2) and temperature in the atmosphere due to the rapid acceleration of industrialization and global climate change. In this study, we deployed a hydroponics-based experiment to explore the individual and mutual effects of different temperatures (low temperature, T1: 23°C; high temperature, T2: 27°C) and CO(2) concentrations (ambient CO(2): 360 ppm; medium CO(2): 450 ppm; high CO(2): 700 ppm) on the uptake and translocation of sodium chloride (NaCl, 0.0, 0.2, 0.6, and 1.1 g Na/L) and cadmium nitrate (Cd(NO(3))(2)·4H(2)O, 0.0, 0.2, 1.8, and 5.4 mg Cd/L) by rice seedlings. The results indicated that Cd and Na exposure significantly (P< 0.05) inhibited plant growth, but T2 and medium/high CO(2) alleviated the effects of Cd and Na on plant growth. Neither significant synergistic nor antagonistic effects of Cd and Na were observed, particularly not at T1 or high CO(2). At increasing temperatures, relative growth rates increased despite higher concentrations of Cd and Na in both rice roots and shoots. Similarly, higher CO(2) stimulated the growth rate but resulted in significantly lower concentrations of Na, while the Cd concentration was highest at medium CO(2). Coexposure experiments suggested that the concentration of Cd in roots slightly declined with additional Na and more at T2. Overall, our preliminary study suggested that global climate change may alter the distribution of mineral and toxic elements in rice plants as well as the tolerance of the plants.