A Comparative Study to Alleviate Arsenite Accumulation in Hydroponically Grown Oryza sativa Seedlings Through Combinations of Se, P and Fe

Abstract

In the present study, the nine cultivars namely NDR-3112, Swarn Sub-2, Pusa-sugandha, IPB-1, Pant-4, Pant-10, Jalnidhi, Ushar-3 and Mashina Research-2 were screened to select the As tolerant cultivar. Based on accumulation and growth parameters, the tolerant cultivar (cv. Pant 10) of rice was selected for further experiments. Rice cv. Pant 10 was treated with i) As, ii) As+Fe, iii) As+Se, iv) As+Se+P and v) As+P under hydroponic condition for 8d. The application (μg ml-1) of Fe(100) to As(4) and Se(4)+P(6) to As(4), significantly (89% and 73%, respectively) reduced the uptake of As to the shoot without affecting the growth of seedlings. However, increasing the level of P (3 and 6 μg ml-1) alone in As(III) (4 μg ml-1) treatments significantly increased the As accumulation in the shoot, coincided with the decreased growth of rice seedlings. Treatment of As+Fe showed a non-significant reduction in growth relative to As alone, whereas, the seedlings exhibited the higher MDA and H2O2 level at 100 μg ml-1 concentration of Fe. In comparison to Se and P combinations, the Fe was found to be more efficient to significantly reduce the As accumulation. Among all the antioxidants, the activity of SOD and APX was significantly enhanced with the As+Fe(50) at both 4 and 8 days of treatments against As(4). Overall results demonstrate that the application of Fe was more efficient to reduce the uptake of As than Se and P in the rice seedlings.