Europium improves the transport of quercetin through Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

The effect of a rare earth element europium (Eu) on the long-distance transport of a plant defence compound quercetin (Q) was investigated. The complex Q/Eu 3+ was synthesized in a HEPES buffer and tested for its transport ability through Arabidopsis thaliana and its ability to interact with target molecules in plant cells. Our results show that complexation with Eu 3+ enhanced the transport of Q through Arabidopsis roots. During the transport, the complex degraded and released a free Q to tissues where Q was originally not available. Thus, the plant became better supplied with the defensive compound Q. The obtained spectrophotometric data imply that one of the reasons for the Q/Eu 3+ degradation was the interaction of the complex with double stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) present in Arabidopsis. Since dsRNAs are replicative forms of plant RNA viruses, the ability of Q/Eu 3+ to release a free Q in their presence suggests further investigation of this complex as a potential antiviral agent.