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Hormesis Effects Induced by Cadmium on Growth and Photosynthetic Performance in a Hyperaccumulator, Lonicera japonica Thunb.

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Abstract

A soil experiment was designed to investigate the hormesis effect of cadmium (Cd) on the growth and the photosynthetic performance in a hyperaccumulator, Lonicera japonica Thunb. by measuring gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, and photosynthetic pigments. After 90 days of exposure to soil containing 25 mg kg−1 Cd, shoot Cd concentrations reached 168.27 ± 5.01 μg g−1 dry weight, without showing symptoms of visible damage to the plants. The results also show that Cd at low concentrations (≤10 mg kg−1) induced a significant increase in plant biomass, net photosynthetic rate (P n), content of chlorophyll (a, b, and a+b) and carotenoids, effective quantum yield ΦPSII and photochemical quenching coefficient q p, but inhibited them at high concentrations (>25 mg kg−1), confirming a hormetic response. The observed growth increases were closely related to the increase in net photosynthesis induced by Cd, though the causes of the P n increase are still not understood. The present study suggested that hormetic effects should be taken into consideration in phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soil and the dose range of Cd inducing hormesis on L. japonica is proposed as 2.5–10 mg kg−1 in the soil.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41301340), the National Science & Technology Pillar Program (2012BAC05B05) and the major National Science & Technology project “water pollution control and management” (2012ZX07202008) of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, People’s Republic of China

    Lian Jia, Zhouli Liu, Wei Chen, Yin Ye, Shuai Yu & Xingyuan He

  2. College of Chemistry and Life Science, Anshan Normal University, 43 Pingan Street, Anshan, 114005, People’s Republic of China

    Lian Jia

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  1. Lian Jia
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  2. Zhouli Liu
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  3. Wei Chen
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Correspondence to Xingyuan He.

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Jia, L., Liu, Z., Chen, W. et al. Hormesis Effects Induced by Cadmium on Growth and Photosynthetic Performance in a Hyperaccumulator, Lonicera japonica Thunb.. J Plant Growth Regul 34, 13–21 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-014-9433-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-014-9433-1

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