ORIGINAL PAPER Effects of two species of inorganic arsenic on the nutrient physiology of rice seedlings Hai Bin Wang Æ H. B. He Æ G. D. Yang Æ C. Y. Ye Æ B. H. Niu Æ W. X. Lin Received: 13 February 2009 / Revised: 1 September 2009 / Accepted: 4 September 2009 / Published online: 22 September 2009 Ó Franciszek Go ´rski Institute of Plant Physiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krako ´w 2009 Abstract This paper reports on a hydroponics experiment that was conducted to investigate the effect of inorganic arsenics on the seedlings of the rice cultivar Shanyou63. The seedlings were subjected to two treatments, i.e., As(III) and As(V). The results showed that the morpho- logical traits of the seedlings were significantly altered after the arsenic treatments. Analysis of nitrogen, phos- phorus, potassium, and arsenic contents of the roots and leaves of the seedlings indicated that the absorption of phosphorus and potassium was mainly affected by As(III), while that of nitrogen was mainly affected by As(V). The expression of 12 genes involved in the absorption and utilization of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were all observed to be down-regulated after the arsenic treatments. As(V) significantly affected the absorption and utilization of nitrogen, while As(III) significantly affected those of phosphorus and potassium. The result obtained by real- time FQ-PCR regarding the difference in the gene expressions agreed with that of our hydroponics experiment. Keywords Inorganic arsenic  Rice (Oryza sativa L.)  Nutrient physiology  Gene expression Introduction Arsenic (As) is a toxic environmental pollutant that has recently attracted substantial attention because it causes chronic and epidemic diseases in humans (Rahman et al. 2007). It is frequently employed in the chemical industry for the production of pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals such as herbicides, fungicides, wood preserva- tives, insecticides, rodenticides, and sheep dips; it is also used as a growth promoter in pig and poultry farms (Marin et al. 1992; D’Ilio et al. 2002; Lamont 2003). However, the use of the above-mentioned arsenicals has led to elevated concentrations of plant-available arsenic in the soil of many regions, especially those of Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and China (Abedin et al. 2002). Arsenic accumulation in soil reduces soil productivity and is toxic to plants (Deuel and Swoboda 1972; Baker et al. 1976). For example, arsenic toxicity can cause straighthead, which is a physiological disease of rice cultivated in flooded soils (Rahman et al. 2008). In soil/water environments, arsenic is found in both its inorganic and organic forms. In soil, inorganic arsenic is present in higher amounts than organic arsenic; it is highly mobile and significantly contaminates the plants (Onken and Hossner 1995; Smith et al. 1998; Liu et al. 2005). Rice is an annual Asian grass that is cultivated in flooded soil for most of its life. It is one of the most important food products, because rice is consumed in tens of kilograms per year per person. Rice is considered to be considerably more nutritive than other cereals. However, the total amount of arsenic present in rice plants is relatively higher than that H. B. He contributed equally to this work. Communicated by A. Aniol. H. B. He  W. X. Lin Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Fuzhou, China H. B. Wang  H. B. He  G. D. Yang  C. Y. Ye  B. H. Niu  W. X. Lin (&) School of Life Sciences/Agroecological Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 350002 Fuzhou, China e-mail: wenxiong181@163.com; w13599084845@sina.com H. B. Wang e-mail: w13599084845@sina.com 123 Acta Physiol Plant (2010) 32:245–251 DOI 10.1007/s11738-009-0399-8