Effect of selenite and selenate on plant uptake of cadmium by maize (Zea mays).

Abstract

Selenium has been reported to confer tolerance to toxicity of heavy metals including cadmium, a highly toxic and non essential heavy metal, which enters the food chain via plant uptake from soils. Selenium reduces availability of cadmium to plants along with other aspects of its toxicokinetics. When plants are supplied with selenite, selenium concentrations in the xylem exudate are lower than selenate. Most of the selenate was transported as selenate and unidentified organic Se compounds. In contrast, Se distribution among various Se fractions within plants does not depend significantly on whether selenite or selenate was used. Selenium has a strong tendency to form complexes with heavy metals like Cd, Hg, Ag and Tl. It has been suggested that the protective effects of selenium are due to the formation of non toxic Se-metal complexes, although the mechanism by which this protective effect is exerted remains unclear. Studies on the effect of selenium (selenite) and cadmium additions to the soil on their concentrations in lettuce and wheat has indicated the role of selenite in reduction of cadmium uptake. The cletoxifying effect of sodium selenite on cadmium ion in the freshwater fish Potyacuthus cupanus has been reported. The discovery that an element likemore » selenium counteracts the toxicity, chemical carcinogenesis and reduces the plant uptake of other toxic metals, highlights the possibility of existence of a Se-metal interaction mechanism in soil plant systems. The uptake and translocation of root-absorbed chromium supplied through irrigation in the trivalent and hexavalant states in various parts of the onion plant (Allium cepa) grown in soil and sand culture has been recently reported by us. In continuation of that, this preliminary report describes the effect of selenite and selenate pretreatment on the uptake of cadmium in the maize plant (Zea mays).« less