Abstract
The menadione sodium bisulphite (MSB) is hydrophilic and has been suggested a defensive molecule against different biotic and abiotic stresses. Cadmium (Cd) is a highly mobile element and even its minute amount causes toxicity in different organisms including plants. This experiment was conducted to elucidate whether seed priming with MSB could induce Cd tolerance in summer squash. The seed were primed with 0, 10 and 20 mM MSB and sown in pots filled with clean and dried sand saturated with Hoagland’s nutrients solution supplemented with different Cd concentrations (0 and 0.1 mM). The Cd stress reduced growth and contents of chlorophyll (Chl), osmoprotectants (soluble sugars, free amino acids, soluble proteins) and yield while increased oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and secondary metabolites (total phenolics and flavonoids). The Cd stress increased root and shoot Fe (4−18%, respectively) and Ca2+ (24−93%, respectively) concentration while decreased root and shoot Mg2+ concentration (31−39%, respectively). The summer squash transported Cd to shoot and compartmentalized it in the cells to avoid Cd toxicity. However, the plants raised from seed primed with MSB had higher contents of photosynthetic pigments (17−23% total Chl), secondary metabolites and osmoprotectants when grown under Cd stress. Further, MSB-priming attenuated the toxicity of Cd on nutrients acquisition and increased growth and yield in the summer squash. The MSB-priming reduced Cd uptake (84%) and also altered Cd compartmentalization at sub-cellular level, and mediated its accumulation in the cell wall and soluble fraction (vacuole) rather than in the chloroplasts and cell membranes. Overall, MSB-priming (10 mM) was much more effective and increased growth and yield of summer squash under Cd stress. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers
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