Effect of cadmium stress on morpho-physiological traits in garden cress and radish in an aeroponic system

Abstract

Cadmium is a main toxic pollutant and poses a considerable threat to human health. In other to study the effect of Cd stress on traits of garden cress and radish, an experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design in an aeroponic system. In this study CdCl2 was used at three levels (control, 3, and 6 mgl-1). Seeds were cultivated in an aeroponic system and Hoagland nutrient solutions (with and without Cd) were used for irrigation. Morphological traits and cadmium accumulation were measured after 40 days. Results for garden cress showed the highest plant height (32.67 cm), leaf number (30.83), root length (14.5 cm), dry weights of roots (0.34 g) and shoots (1.52 g), fresh weights of roots (2.27 g) and shoots (11.3 g) in the control and the 6 mg l-1 cadmium chloride resulted in the highest cadmium accumulation in roots and shoots 2.88 and 0.11 kg/g, respectively. Also in radish the results showed the highest plant height (50.1 cm), leaf number (18.8), root length (26.7 cm), dry weights of roots (0.41 g) and shoots (2.04 g), fresh weights of roots (3.9 g) and shoots (27.01 g) in the control and the 6 mg l-1 cadmium chloride produced the highest cadmium accumulation in roots and shoots 3.3 and 0.28 kg/g, respectively. Findings showed that proline, total phenol, and anthocyanin contents increased under cadmium stress in garden cress and radish.