Abstract
A soil experiment was designed to investigate the hormesis effect of cadmium (Cd) on the growth and the photosynthetic performance in a hyperaccumulator, Lonicera japonica Thunb. by measuring gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, and photosynthetic pigments. After 90 days of exposure to soil containing 25 mg kg−1 Cd, shoot Cd concentrations reached 168.27 ± 5.01 μg g−1 dry weight, without showing symptoms of visible damage to the plants. The results also show that Cd at low concentrations (≤10 mg kg−1) induced a significant increase in plant biomass, net photosynthetic rate (P n), content of chlorophyll (a, b, and a+b) and carotenoids, effective quantum yield ΦPSII and photochemical quenching coefficient q p, but inhibited them at high concentrations (>25 mg kg−1), confirming a hormetic response. The observed growth increases were closely related to the increase in net photosynthesis induced by Cd, though the causes of the P n increase are still not understood. The present study suggested that hormetic effects should be taken into consideration in phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soil and the dose range of Cd inducing hormesis on L. japonica is proposed as 2.5–10 mg kg−1 in the soil.
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