Journal of Stress Physiology & Biochemistry, Vol. 7, No. 4,
2011, pp. 31- 38. ISSN 1997-0838
Original Text Copyright (cc) 2011 by Piršelová
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
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QueryDate : 2016-12-24
Cites : 4
Monitoring the sensitivity of selected crops to lead, cadmium and arsenic
Piršelová B.
Constantine the Philosopher
University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Botany and
Genetics, Nábrežie mládeže 91, 949 74, Nitra, Slovak Republic Phone: + 42137 6408 583, Fax: + 42137 6408556,
E-mail: bpirselova@ukf.sk
Received August 13, 2011
Heavy metals are highly
toxic environmental pollutants. In plants, these compounds cause
numerous slighter or stronger toxic effects. They inhibit root and
shoot growth and yield production, affect nutrient uptake and
homeostasis, and are frequently accumulated by agriculturally important
crops.
Effects of heavy metals on five selected species of agricultural crops
were monitored. We focused our attention to general and commonly used
stress indicators such as seed germination, weight and length of roots
and shoots. Each of these characteristics was dependent on the tested
plant species and tested heavy metals. Dosage of lead (500 mg/l) had
little effect on seed germination, cadmium (300 mg/l) significantly
affected seed germination of pea and barley, arsenic (100 mg/l) caused
total inhibition of seed germination in all tested plant species.
Plants grow in soil contaminated with heavy metals showed several
symptoms of metal toxicity (chlorosis, necrosis of leaf tips,
blackening of roots).
In general, the highest tolerance to tested metal ions was
observed in both varieties of bean, and the lowest sensitivity was
observed in soybean plants. The highest degree of toxicity was shown to
have tested doses of cadmium and arsenic, the lowest the doses of lead.
In general, the lowest tolerance indexes were determined based on the
decrease in fresh weight of roots.
