REGULAR ARTICLE Influence of iron plaque and cultivars on antimony uptake by and translocation in rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings exposed to Sb(III) or Sb(V) Yanchao Huang & Zheng Chen & Wenju Liu Received: 15 April 2011 /Accepted: 19 August 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract Background and Aims Characteristically baseline lev- els of Sb in the environment are low, but problematic local elevation trends arise from anthropogenic activities such as mining and incineration. Arsenic (analog of Sb) accumulation by rice can be reduced by iron (Fe) plaque. A hydroponic experiment was conducted to investigate whether Fe plaque could reduce the uptake and translocation of different Sb species in different rice cultivars. Methods After Fe plaque on rice roots was induced in solution containing 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.7, 1.2, 2.0 mM Fe 2+ for 24 h, seedlings were transferred into nutrient solution with 20 μM Sb(V) or Sb(III) for 3 d. Results About 60–80% (Sb(III) treatment) and 40– 60% (Sb(V) treatment) of the total Sb accumulated in Fe plaque. There was a significant correlation between the concentrations of Sb and Fe on the root surface. A similar relationship was observed in roots and shoots. Cultivar (Jiahua 1) formed the most Fe plaque, had the highest Fe associated Sb sequestration but the lowest Sb concentration in the root interior. Conclusions Fe plaque may act as a ‘buffer ’ for Sb (V) and Sb(III) in the rhizosphere, and cultivars played an important role in the different species Sb uptake and translocation. Keywords Antimony species . Translocation . Iron plaque . Rice Cultivars Introduction Ranking 62 nd in crustal abundance the trace element Antimony is commonly found in soils at concen- trations between 0.2 and 0.3 mg kg -1 (Rish 2004). It has no biological function and is non-essential to plants (He and Yang 1999; Miravet et al. 2005). However, antimony is a potent mammalian toxin (Gebel 1997), and considered as a priority pollutant by USA (USEPA 1999) and EU (Council of the European Communities 1976). It has been reported that high concentrations of antimony persist at some sites of the world due to human activities such as mining and incineration (Baroni et al. 2000; Hammel et al. 2000; Flynn et al. 2003). In the latest decades, global fluxes of Sb have increased at least 10-fold (Irina et al. 2011). Plants growing in these Sb- contaminated areas can accumulate antimony from Plant Soil DOI 10.1007/s11104-011-0973-x Responsible Editor: Henk Schat. Y. Huang : Z. Chen Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China W. Liu(*) College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding 071000, China e-mail: liuwj@hebau.edu.cn W. Liu e-mail: wenjuliu71@gmail.com