Aqueous extract of Pongamia pinnata (PALE) was accessed to alleviate mercuric chloride (HgCl 2 ) induced stress on seed germination and early seedling growth of Zea mays L. Maize seeds were soaked in 5 and 2.5% PALE prior to sowing in the pots and HgCl 2 was applied at rate of 1 and 0.5 mg kg -1 to the soil to induce an artificial stress for the germination and seedling growth. The results showed that seed germination (%), root dry weight and photosynthetic pigments were significantly reduced by HgCl 2 at 1 mg kg -1 , which resulted in accumulation of phenolic compounds in maize leaves. It was found that the total soluble phenolic content was negatively correlated with shoot dry weight (r = -0.656, p = 0.001). On the other hand, seed soaked with PALE significantly alleviated adverse effects of HgCl 2 stress on seed germination and growth attributes of maize, thus it was found to be effective to protect maize plants from adverse effects of mercury and can be recommended for application in mercury contaminated areas of farmer's field.
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