Ytterbium increases transmembrane water transport in Zea mays roots via aquaporin modulation Vladimir N. Vorob’ev . Timur A. Sibgatullin . Kseniya A. Sterkhova . Evgeniy A. Alexandrov . Yuri V. Gogolev . Olga A. Timofeeva . Vladimir Y. Gorshkov . Vladimir V. Chevela Received: 4 February 2019 / Accepted: 28 September 2019 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract In our study, the rare earth element ytterbium (Yb 3? ) was demonstrated to affect water exchange in roots of Zea mays seedlings. Herewith, the overall membrane permeability (P d ) increased. The P d increase was determined by aquaporin activity but not the membrane lipid component since the closure of aquaporin channels due to low intracellular pH abolished the positive effect of Yb 3? on P d . Additionally, the expression level of aquaporin genes ZmPIP2;2, ZmPIP2;6 and ZmTIP2;2 was increased when plants were grown in the presence of Yb 3? . Our results indicate that previously described positive influence of rare earth metals on plant growth and productivity may be mediated (at least partially) by the modification of the plant hydraulic system. Keywords Zea mays Á Water permeability Á NMR- spectroscopy Á Lanthanides Á Gene expression analysis Introduction Lanthanides are known to enhance seed germination, photosynthesis, biomass accumulation, assimilation of macro- and micro-elements resulting in an increase in plant yield (Ramı ´rezolvera et al. 2018; Vilela et al. V. N. Vorob’ev (&) Á T. A. Sibgatullin Á K. A. Sterkhova Á E. A. Alexandrov Á Y. V. Gogolev Á V. Y. Gorshkov Kazan Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, FRC Kazan Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 30, Lobachevsky st., 2/13, Kazan, Russia 420111 e-mail: vorobyev@kibb.knc.ru T. A. Sibgatullin e-mail: timsdance@mail.ru K. A. Sterkhova e-mail: kseniya.sterkhova@mail.ru E. A. Alexandrov e-mail: ebontey@gmail.com Y. V. Gogolev e-mail: gogolev.yuri@gmail.com V. Y. Gorshkov e-mail: gvy84@mail.ru V. N. Vorob’ev Á Y. V. Gogolev Á O. A. Timofeeva Á V. Y. Gorshkov Á V. V. Chevela Kazan (Volga region) Federal University, Kremlyovskaya st., 18, 420008 Kazan, Russia e-mail: otimofeeva2008@mail.ru V. V. Chevela e-mail: vladimir.chevela@kpfu.ru 123 Biometals https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-019-00221-4