Cadmium stress in barley seedlings: Accumulation, growth, anatomy and physiology

Abstract

Heavy metal stress has marked effects on some growth parameters, physiology, anatomy, and genetics of plants. Among heavy metals, cadmium (Cd) is an extremely toxic one and effects living organisms at even low concentrations. The presence of Cd in air, water and soil and its accumulation in plants create significant negations such as cancer, renal failure, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases in humans when taken from direct and indirect ways. The defense mechanism of the plants which is responsible from stress tolerance can be investigated to improve crop yield under Cd stress. Numerous studies have shown negative effects in plants exposed to Cd. Therefore, in this study, 0 (for control), 50, 100, 200 and 400 μM (for experimental groups) CdCl2 were applied to barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plants and some growth, development, physiological and anatomical parameters were measured. As a result, it has been observed that barley plants can manage stress in terms of some parameters under low Cd stress conditions, however, they are negatively affected at all Cd concentrations to a certain extent. In addition, it was observed that barley plants were adversely affected by high levels of Cd stress, although they maintained their vitality throughout the experiment.