Effect of cadmium and herbicides on the growth, chlorophyll and soluble sugar content in rice seedlings

Abstract

To investigate the combined effects of Cd2+ (0, 10, 100, 500 μmol/L), acetochlor (AC) (0, 1.6, 4.0, 8.0 μmol/L), and bensulfuronmethyl (BSM) (0, 0.16, 0.40, 0.80 μmol/L) on the biomass, leaf soluble sugar, total chlorophyll (chl) content, chl a/b ratio, and Cd content in roots and shoots in the rice seedlings, pot culture experiments were conducted with rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivar Jinyou 402. The results showed that the Cd and AC combined treatment (Cd+AC treatment) significantly inhibited the growth of the roots and shoots. The root dry weight/shoot dry weight (RDW/SDW) ratio, total chlorophyll content and chl a/b ratio decreased by 41%, 50%, 56%, respectively, in comparison with the control, as well as the leaf soluble sugar content, plant dry weight/plant fresh weight (PDW/PFW) ratio increased by 284% and 44%, respectively. Cd content in the roots and shoots had a decreasing tendency with the increasing concentration of AC under the Cd+AC treatment. The Cd and BSM combined treatment (Cd+BSM treatment) had a similar result to the Cd+AC treatment. The results suggest that the toxicity of Cd to rice seedlings has been enhanced due to its combination with herbicides.