Cadmium accumulation characteristics of low-cadmium rice (Oryza sativa L.) line and F1 hybrids grown in cadmium-contaminated soils.

Cadmium (Cd) pollution has threatened severely to food safety and human health. A pot experiment and a field experiment were conducted to investigate the difference of Cd accumulation between rice (Oryza sativa L.) lines and F1 hybrids in Cd-contaminated soils. The adverse effect on biomass of rice lines was greater than that of F1 hybrids under Cd treatments in the pot experiment. The variations of Cd concentration among rice cultivars in different organs were smaller in stem and leaf, but larger in root and ear. Average proportion of Cd in root of F1 hybrids was 1.39, 1.39, and 1.16 times higher than those of rice lines at the treatment of 1, 2, and 4 mg Cd kg-1 soil, respectively. Cd concentrations in ear of F1 hybrids were significantly lower than rice lines with the reduction from 29.24 to 50.59%. Cd concentrations in brown rice of all F1 hybrids were less than 0.2 mg kg-1 at 1 mg Cd kg-1 soil, in which Lu98A/YaHui2816, 5406A/YaHui2816, and C268A/YaHui2816 could be screened out as cadmium-safe cultivars (CSCs) for being safe even at 2 mg Cd kg-1 soil. C268A/YaHui2816 showed the lowest Cd concentration in root among F1 hybrids, while Lu98A/YaHui2816 and 5406A/YaHui2816 showed lower capability of Cd translocation from root to shoot under Cd exposure, which eventually caused the lower Cd accumulation in brown rice. The lower level of Cd translocation contributed to reducing the accumulation of Cd in brown rice had been validated by the field experiment. Thus, Lu98A/YaHui2816, 5406A/YaHui2816, and C268A/YaHui2816 could be considered as potential CSCs to cultivate in Cd-contaminated soils (<2 mg Cd kg-1 soil).