Interactive Effects of EDTA and Oxalic Acid on Chromium Uptake, Translocation and Photosynthetic Attributes in Indian Mustard (<i>Brassica juncea</i> L. var. Varuna)

Abstract

The accumulation and toxicity of chromium (Cr) in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) under ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and oxalic acid (OA) as chelating agents was studied. Plants were exposed to Cr(VI) and chelating agents in four experimental set-ups as Cr(VI), Cr(VI) + EDTA (1 : 1), Cr(VI) + OA (1 : 1) and Cr(VI) + EDTA + OA (1 : 1 : 1), where each set-up comprised of 0, 6.25, 12.5 and 25.0 mg of Cr(VI) and/or chelating agents in 250 g of soil. Results conferred that EDTA augmented bio-concentration factor in all the three doses of Cr(VI), OA considerably increased translocation factor in all the treatments, including control, and the combined application of the two chelates escalated both the aforesaid factors. Moreover, these chelating agents help in ameliorating Cr(VI) toxicity asserted by low degree of lipid peroxidation, insubstantial damage in root and shoot length, fresh and dry biomass, chlorophyll and leaf gas exchange parameters. Besides, plants showed a robust detoxification mechanism primarily by significant (P < 0.05) production of reduced glutathione and phytochelatins among other enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants under these chelating agents. The present findings suggest that Indian mustard could be used as a potential phytoremediator of Cr(VI) under the combined application of EDTA and OA.

Chromium (VI)-Induced Alterations in Physio-Chemical Parameters, Yield, and Yield Characteristics in Two Cultivars of Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.)

“…In addition to decreased plant growth, chlorophyll content decreased with increasing levels of Cr during the pot experiments. Studies on Cr stress in Nicotiana tabacum (Bukhari et al, 2016 ), Brassica juncea (Mahmud et al, 2017 ; Singh et al, 2017 ), Cicer arietinum (Singh et al, 2020 ), Brassica napus (Gill et al, 2015a ), and Brassica oleracea (Ahmad et al, 2020 ) have reported similar results. Our results are also consistent with those in Vigna radiata (Jabeen et al, 2016 ), Sorghum bicolour (Kumar et al, 2019 ), and Zea mays (Habiba et al, 2019 ), in which decreased plant growth and photosynthesis occurred with increasing levels of Cr.…”

Chromium-Induced Reactive Oxygen Species Accumulation by Altering the Enzymatic Antioxidant System and Associated Cytotoxic, Genotoxic, Ultrastructural, and Photosynthetic Changes in Plants

“…Plants uptake Cr(III) by passive mechanism, while the uptake of Cr(VI), which has a structural resemblance with sulfate and phosphate, takes palace by the active mechanism through sulfate and phosphate channels [2,28,167]. The restriction of Cr(VI)-uptake and no change in Cr(III)-uptake by the treatment of exogenous metabolic inhibitors confirmed the active and passive uptake mechanisms of these Cr species, respectively [2,89]. The molecular mechanism for Cr uptake and translocation is elusive and further studies are required.…”

Copper Uptake and Its Effects on Two Riparian Plant Species, the Native Urtica dioica, and the Invasive Fallopia japonica

“…This might be due to chelating agents such as oxalic acid which can bind heavy metals and reduce toxicity. This has been shown for chromium toxicity [37,43]. Another factor might be a higher concentration of the plant hormone salicylic acid in these species, which can increase the stress tolerance of plants.…”

“…For example, lead caused a decrease in the amount of pigment in Pisum sativum [ 36 ]. Similarly, chromium contamination decreased total chlorophyll by up to 61% in Brassica juncea [ 37 ] and by 54% in Solanum lycopersicum [ 38 ]. On the other hand, cadmium had no impact on the amount of photosynthetic pigments in Brassica napus but still disrupted photosynthetic processes [ 35 ].…”