Effect of Cu stress on the invertase activity and root growth in two populations of Rumex dentatus L. with different Cu tolerance

There has been no study on key enzymes in sucrose cleavage in metallophyte plants so far, which may be crucial for the plants' root growth and heavy metal tolerance maintenance. Acid invertases are rate‐limiting enzymes in sucrose metabolism. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the roots of copper‐tolerant plants should manifest a higher activity of acid invertases than nontolerant plants both for supporting growth and for their maintaining tolerance under Cu stress. Two populations of Rumex dentatus L., one from an ancient waste heap at a Cu mine (Cu‐tolerant population), and the other from a noncontaminated site (Cu nontolerant population), were used in the experiments. The seedlings of Rumex dentatus L. were exposed to 0, 10, and 40 μM CuCl 2 for 14 days. Cu exposure had a stronger inhibition on root growth and thus resulted in a lower root/shoot ratio in the plants of nontolerant population compared with the Cu‐tolerant population. Cu exposure showed a stronger inhibition of acid invertase activity of Cu nontolerant plants than Cu tolerant plants, whereas neutral/alkaline invertase was insensitive to Cu. A positive correlation between the activity of acid invertases and the root growth and root/shoot ratio was observed. The results suggested that the higher activities in acid invertases of Cu‐tolerant population might at least partly associate with the plants' Cu tolerance, and their higher activities in acid invertases in turn played an role in maintenance of the Cu tolerance by supplying carbon and energy for tolerance mechanisms. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2008.