Abstract
Gladiolus plants were exposed to airborne fluoride in order to study effects at the metabolic level. Two varieties of gladiolus, one sensitive and the other resistant to fluoride, were grown on uniform soil at a clean-air site. One set of plants was then exposed to ambient air in the vicinity of an aluminum smelter plant. A second set of control plants was placed at a location free from fluoride-polluted air. At the end of the exposure period of two weeks, plants were harvested and analyzed. The fluoride content in exposed plants was about four times higher than that in control plants. Chlorophyll content remained unchanged, but the soluble protein content of exposed plants decreased by up to 50% relative to the control plants. Activities of glutamine synthetase, glutamate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and enolase in the tissue of exposed plants were reduced to 30-50% of the activities in control plants. These effects of fluoride were more pronounced in the sensitive variety than in the resistant one. The results demonstrate that gladiolus plants can be used as a sensitive bioindicator for fluoride pollution.
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