Dysfunction of Rice Mitochondrial Membrane Induced by Yb3

Ytterbium (Yb), a widely used rare earth element, is treated as highly toxic to human being and adverseness to plant. Mitochondria play a significant role in plant growth and development, and are proposed as a potential target for ytterbium toxicity. In this paper, the biological effect of Yb 3+ on isolated rice mitochondria was investigated. We found that Yb 3+ with high concentrations (200 ~ 600 μM) not only induced mitochondrial membrane permeability transition (mtMPT), but also disturbed the mitochondrial ultrastructure. Moreover, Yb 3+ caused the respiratory chain damage, ROS formation, membrane potential decrease, and mitochondrial complex II activity reverse. The results above suggested that Yb 3+ with high concentrations could induce mitochondrial membrane dysfunction. These findings will support some valuable information to the safe application of Yb-based agents.