Influences of Heavy Metals and Salt on Seed Germination and Seedling Characteristics of Halophyte Halogeton glomeratus.

Abstract

Heavy metals pollution and salinization of soils are widely distributed in agricultural soils. This study investigated the effects of five heavy metals and five heavy metals-contaminated salt on seed germination and seedling growth of halophyte Halogeton glomeratus (H. glomeratus). The results showed that seed germination, fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), radicles relative viability and ion contents (Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+) of H. glomeratus were affected by different heavy metals and heavy metal-polluted 100mM NaCl treatments. Ion contents in plumules increased with the increase of heavy metal concentrations with or without NaCl addition. Moreover, the accumulation levels of metals in the concentrations of Cu2+, Zn2+ and Pb2+ supplying 100mM NaCl were higher than that without NaCl treatment. This can provide new insights into the value of H. glomeratus for phytoremediation of soil affected by heavy metals and also in combination with salinity.