Abstract. Exposure to persistent organic hydrocarbon pollutants can have deleterious effects on the growth, physiology and anatomy of plants. Sand collected at an oil-drilling quagmire in southern Algeria was analyzed by GC-FID and found to contain 18mg.Kg -1 hydrocarbons. Pisum sativum L. (pea) plants were grown in laboratory conditions in sandy soil from the site. Plants growing in hydrocarbon polluted sandy soil had shorter primary roots and fewer lateral roots than control plants growing in non-polluted sandy soil. However lateral root dry weight was 35% higher than control. Pollutant-induced oxidative stress on pea roots resulted in lipid peroxidation and accumulation of MDA, H 2 O 2 and O 2 -in root tips. Enzymatic detox activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase were also over 40% higher in plants growing on polluted soil than in controls. The anatomy of pea roots was also affected by hydrocarbonpolluted soil, because xylem vessel differentiation was delayed and an unusual supplementary cell layer was formed in the endoderm. These data suggest pea plants adapt morphologically and anatomically to polluted soil.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.