Responses of Two Barley Subspecies to In vitro-Induced Heavy Metal Stress: Seeds Germination, Seedlings Growth and Cytotoxicity Assay

Abstract

In this work three heavy metals: cadmium (as CdSO4), cobalt (as CoCl2) and zinc (as ZnSO4), were used to determine and compare their toxicity towards two subspecies of barley (Hordeum vulgare subsp. vulgare L. and Hordeum vulgare subsp. distichum L.), focusing on seeds germination, seedlings growth, and cytological parameters. The results indicate that the effect of these heavy metals depends on the metal kind, the metal concentrations and the plant subspecies. Generally, in the case of H. vulgare, the heavy metal salts understudy did not influence significantly seed germination and seedling growth parameters. However, these metal salts influence significantly these parameters for H. distichum. The cytological test showed significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the mitotic index among the increase of the heavy metal concentrations when evaluated with the control for H. vulgare and H. distichum. Consequently, H. vulgare seemed to be more tolerant of the increase of the three heavy metals concentrations than H. distichum.

Determination of Physiochemical Characteristics Associated with Various Degrees of Cadmium Tolerance in Barley Accessions

“…Under several physical and heavy metal stress conditions, the dynamics of seed germination are altered. There have been many studies on the effect of heavy metals on germination mechanisms and water uptake [50][51][52].…”

The impact of multiple abiotic stresses on ns-LTP2.8 gene transcript and ns-LTP2.8 protein accumulation in germinating barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) embryos

“…Abiotic stress in germinating barley grains: undamaged caryopses without signs of fungal infection were selected and sterilized [ 37 ]. Experiment was carried out using sterile Petri dishes (10 cm diameter, 10 barley kernels per dish, six dishes per each condition and genotype) padded with Whatman paper [ 38 ]. Firstly, all caryopses were incubated at 22°C on the dishes with sterile water (5 ml per dish) to unify the imbibition, thus germination process under stress conditions.…”

In Vitro Koşullarda Değişik Konsantrasyonlarda Ağır Metaller İçeren Besin Ortamlarının Kabak (Cucurbita pepo L.) Bitkisi Gelişimi Üzerine Etkileri

“…They determined that increasing concentrations of heavy metals and heat stress cause water accumulation in seeds and promote germination. Nouri et al [28], found that increasing cadmium concentrations suppressed the root growth of H. vulgare and H. distichum. Baran et al [19], found that cadmium had a negative effect on the root length of the cucumber plant and the highest values were obtained from the control medium.…”