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Physiological responses of fenugreek seedlings and plants treated with cadmium

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Abstract

The bioaccumulation efficiency of cadmium (Cd) by fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) was examined using different concentrations of CdCl2. The germination rate was similar to control except at 10 mM Cd. However, early seedling growth was quite sensitive to the metal from the lowest Cd level. Accordingly, amylase activity was reduced substantially on treatment of seeds with 0.5, 1, and 10 mM Cd. Cadmium also affected various other plant growth parameters. Its accumulation was markedly lower in shoots as compared to roots, reducing root biomass by almost 50 %. Plants treated with 1 and 5 mM Cd presented chlorosis due to a significant reduction in chlorophyll b especially. Furthermore, at Cd concentrations greater than 0.1 mM, plants showed several signs of oxidative stress; an enhancement in root hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) level and in shoot malondialdehyde (MDA) content was observed. Conversely, antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and catalase (CAT)) increased in various plant parts. Likewise, total phenolic and flavonoid contents reached their highest values in the 0.5 mM Cd treatment, consistent with their roles in quenching low concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Consequently, maintaining oxidant and antioxidant balance may permit fenugreek to hyperaccumulate Cd and allow it to be employed in extremely Cd polluted soils for detoxification purposes.

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Abbreviations

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

CAT:

Catalase

DTT:

Dithiothreitol

E h :

Redox potential

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

NBT:

Nitrobluetetrazolium

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TBA:

Thiobarbituric acid

TCA:

Trichloroacetic acid

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. It was accomplished at Faculty of Sciences of Sfax. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Rania Ben Saâd and Imen Fendri for the helpful advice and Mohamed Ayedi for the technical assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors disclose that there are no relationships or interests that could have direct or potential influence or impart bias on the work. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Sfax, BP 1171, 3000, Sfax, Tunisia

    Chaâbene Zayneb, Khemakhem Bassem, Drira Noureddine, Mejdoub Hafedh & Elleuch Amine

  2. Animal Physiology Laboratory, Life Sciences Dept., Faculty of Sciences, University of Sfax, BP 1171, 3000, Sfax, Tunisia

    Kamoun Zeineb

  3. Department of Molecular Signal Processing, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Weinberg 3, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany

    C. Douglas Grubb

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  1. Chaâbene Zayneb
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  2. Khemakhem Bassem
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Correspondence to Elleuch Amine.

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Zayneb, C., Bassem, K., Zeineb, K. et al. Physiological responses of fenugreek seedlings and plants treated with cadmium. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 10679–10689 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4270-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4270-8

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