Effects of Metals on Seed Germination, Root Elongation, and Coleoptile and Hypocotyl Growth in Triticum aestivum and Cucumis sativus

Abstract

A simple, fast, and easy-to-perform method was carried out for the quantification of the inhibitory effects of metals on wheat and cucumber. The method uses seed germination, root elongation, and hypocotyl and coleoptile growth in these plants as parameters in the presence of varying concentrations of metals. Metals selected for this study were Hg, Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Although effective concentrations of these metals for a certain degree of inhibition were different, both plants had a reduced seed germination rate, root, and hypocotyl or coleoptile length with increasing concentrations. Mercury was determined to be the most inhibitory metal on these parameters. This metal caused a complete inhibition of germination in wheat and cucumber seeds at certain concentrations-->or=1.5 mM in cucumber and at 1.7 mM in wheat. No other metal caused this kind of inhibition even at the highest concentration (8.0 mM) applied. Though this metal possessed a higher inhibition of germination in cucumber than in wheat seeds, the inhibitory effects of other metals used were the reverse, being higher in wheat. With some exceptions, all metals in selected concentrations caused a significant ( p < 0.01 or p < 0.05) decrease in germination rate of both plants compared to control group seeds.

Seed imbibition and germination of Plathymenia reticulata Benth. (Fabaceae) affected by mercury: possible role of aquaporins

“…At high concentrations, the metal is capable of causing the death of the seed embryos because oxidative stress is generated and important cellular components are damaged. At lower concentrations, mercury can alter the pattern of hydration and germination of the seeds (Munzuroglu & Geckil 2002;Jain et al 2008).…”

“…Heavy metals can affect plant physiology in different phases of a plant's development (Munzuroglu & Geckil 2002), and mercury has various effects on seed homeostasis. In P. reticulata, the dose dependent application of this metal is capable of altering the hydration process of the seeds and causing the death of the embryo.…”

In vitro seed germination and biochemical profiling of Artemisia absinthium exposed to various metallic nanoparticles

“…Seeds inoculated in solidified MS medium without any suspension of MNPs were taken as control. Seed germination is extensively used in phytotoxicity test because it is simple, low cost and most suitable for unstable samples or chemicals (Munzuroglu and Geckil 2002;Wang et al 2001). Maximum germination frequency was observed in seeds treated with AgNPs suspensions, while minimum seed germination was seen in seeds treated with AuNPs.…”

Morphological and Biochemical Answer of the Wheat Seeds at Treatment with 2,4-Dinitrophenol and Potassium Iodate

“…Peralta et al (2001) showed that Cr, Cu, Cd, Ni, and Zn ions reduce the germination rate of the Medicago sativa L. seeds as well as the size of the radicles and tigellas of the resulted seedlings. Munzuroglu and Geckil (2002) studied the influence of metal ions such as Hg 2+ , Cd 2+ , Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , Pb 2+ and Zn 2+ on the germination of Triticum aestivum and Cucumis sativum seeds and highlighted the inhibition of this process depending on the concentration and the reduction of the length of both radicle, hypocotyls and coleoptile of the seedlings. In contrast with our observations, the experiments carried out by Huţanu et al (2013) in the concentration range from 10 -4 M to 10 -2 M DNP demonstrated the strong toxicity of 3×10 -3 M concentration of 2,4-dinitrophenol on the wheat seeds.…”