Cd-Metal Stress Protection in B. juncea triggered by the Synthesis of Osmolytes, Plant Growth Regulators and Antioxidants Kapoor Dhriti*, Rattan Amandeep, Bhardwaj Renu, Kaur Satwinderjeet Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, (Punjab), 143005, India *Corresponding Author E-mail: dhriti405@gmail.com
Online published on 12 January, 2017. Abstract The present piece of work was undertaken to determine the influence of cadmium (Cd) metal on H2O2, level of antioxidants (ascorbic acid and tocopherol), antioxidant assays (DPPH and ABTS), antioxidative enzyme activities (POD, APOX and GR), total osmolytes content, photosynthetic pigments (carotenoid and flavonoid contents), gaseous exchange parameters (photosynthetic rate and water use efficiency), level of Na+ and K+ ions and hormone profiling of 60 days old plants of Brassica juncea. This study demonstrated that Cd metal led to increase in the level of hydrogen peroxide. There was a reduction in the level of photosynthetic pigments, photosynthetic rate and water use efficiency due to Cd toxicity. However, enhancement in the antioxidant potential and level of osmolytes had been noticed in Cd treated plants. In addition, Cd toxicity caused the alteration in the content of ions and hormones. Top Keywords Cd toxicity, element, osmolyte, hormones, photosynthetic system. Top |