Effect of fluoride toxicity on morphological, biochemical and physiological parameters in different oat cultivars

Abstract

Fluoride is one of the most highly toxic soil and air pollutant prevalent in aquatic as well as terrestrial ecosystems. It seriously affects crop plant quality and productivity worldwide. Although a crop with great nutritional value; oats are susceptible to a variety of abiotic stresses. In the current study, the responses of six oat cultivars (JHO-99-1, JHO-2009, BJ-2012, KANT, JHO-822, and JHO-2000) to fluoride stress on growth measurements, photosynthetic pigments, and photosynthetic parameters have been studied. The fluoride (200 and 400 mg/kg) was added to the soil artificially, seeds were sown and the pots were kept under controlled conditions. Another set of plants without the fluoride treatment (0 mg/kg) were labeled as control. The experiment was conducted in a plant growth chamber and fluoride was artificially added to the soil prior to seeding. All six oat cultivars subjected to fluoride stress exhibited an overall decrease in plant growth when compared to the control. Further under fluoride stress, while the oat cultivars also showed a decrease in chlorophyll content and different photosynthetic parameters but on the contrary the antioxidant activities were increased. While the cultivar JHO-822 was most affected under fluoride stress, JHO-99-1 showed tolerance toward fluoride toxicity in comparison to other cultivars JHO-2009, BJ-2012, KANT, JHO-822, and JHO-2000. It is concluded that the tolerance or susceptibility of a cultivar to fluoride can be well correlated with various parameters studied in the present study.