Chronic Cadmium Induced Oxidative Stress Not the DNA Fragmentation Modulates Growth in Spring Wheat (Triticum aestivum)

• Published in: International journal of agriculture and biology 2014-08, Vol.16 (4)
• Main Authors: Riaz, Sana, Iqbal, Muhammad, Hussain, Iqbal, Rasheed, Rizwan, Arslan, M, Mahmood, Ashraf Saqib, Younas, Muhammad, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Triticum aestivum
• ISSN: 1560-8530; 1814-9596

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of Cd-stress on growth and DNA fragmentation in spring wheat. For this purpose wheat genotype 91BT010-1and cultivars AS-2002 and Ufaq-2002 were grown in small pots filled with sand treated with different Cd concentrations (0 50 100 200 and 400 M) in Hoagland's nutrient solution and placed in a Plant Growth Chamber. The data for various attributes were collected after 30 days of germination. Higher Cd level restricted plant growth in all the genotypes as estimated in terms of decreases in plant height leaf area and fresh and dry mass. Interestingly Cd stress decreased chlorophyll contents while increased carotenoids contents in wheat leaves. Although genotypes differed with respect to membrane stability index and malondialdehyde contents under different Cd levels those having more ascorbic acid concentration showed lesser lipid peroxidation and greater tolerance to chronic Cd exposure. However no DNA fragmentation was observed in either genotype. The results suggested that the drastic effects of Cd on the growth of wheat plants were due to oxidative stress and decreased chlorophyll contents rather than DNA fragmentation. Copyright 2014 Friends Science Publishers.