Effect of Selenium on the growth and Cadmium accumulation of tomato seedlings in low temperature and low light

Abstract

In this study, we used two tomato cultivars ‘Medium Vegetable 4’ and ‘Middle Mix 9’ as materials, applying Na2SeO3 to the soil to study the effect of external Selenium (Se) on the growth and Cadmium (Cd) accumulation under low temperature (18/12 °C, day/night) and low light (100 μmol⋅m−2⋅s−1). Results show that Se can significantly reduce the Cd accumulation in root, leaf and stem and promote the development of tomato under Cd stress. Under low temperature, Se can enhance cold tolerance through increasing the chlorophyll content, POD activity, soluble sugar and soluble protein content and decreasing the MAD content of two cultivars. Our study provides direction for tomato cultivation under low temperature and low light.