article · Frontiers in Plant Science
Cadmium contamination in soil impairs crop development, but silicon can help plants manage this stress. Greenhouse pot trials conducted over two growing seasons examined how silicon influences pea plants exposed to cadmium toxicity. Exposure to cadmium led to heavy metal accumulation in both roots and shoots, significantly reducing plant height, leaf area, and dry biomass. The metal disrupted photosynthesis by lowering chlorophyll levels and caused anatomical defects, including vascular irregularities, cortical cell enlargement, and reduced stomatal density. Cadmium also induced oxidative damage, marked by elevated hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde levels, whilst triggering higher peroxidase enzyme activity. Supplying silicon at 300 parts per million to plants under heavy cadmium stress notably lowered malondialdehyde concentrations by approximately 29 per cent across both seasons. These results demonstrate that silicon application helps protect pea plants from cadmium-induced oxidative stress.
Soil pollution with toxic heavy metals such as cadmium severely damages agricultural productivity by stunting plant growth and disrupting cell structures. Understanding how soil amendments like silicon mitigate toxicity provides valuable insights into crop protection strategies. Demonstrating that silicon reduces oxidative damage in peas helps researchers explore practical soil management solutions to maintain crop health in contaminated soils.
This work could inform the development of silicon-based soil amendments or treatments aimed at protecting legume crops grown in heavy-metal-affected soils. Potential users include agricultural input manufacturers, agronomists, and growers managing contaminated farmland. The research is currently at an early, experimental stage, having been evaluated only within greenhouse pot trials, indicating that extensive field testing is required prior to commercial application.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Soil pollution with cadmium (Cd) is a serious threat to plant growth and development. On the other hand, silicon (Si) can support plants to cope with Cd stress. However, the Cd stress mitigating impact of Si reduction in pea (<i>Pisum sativum</i> L.) is not known. The objective of this study is to see if and how Si can reduce Cd toxicity. To the end, a greenhouse pot experiment was performed twice during the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 seasons to investigate the effect of Si on the growth, anatomy, and biochemistry of Cd stressed peas plants. Cd exposure increased the contents of Cd ions in the root and shoot of pea plants. Consequentially, Cd accumulation in pea tissue significantly reduced plant growth i.e., plant height, leaf area, and shoot and root dry weights. The effect of Cd was concentration-dependent, where at low concentration (50 mg/kg soil), the plant height was 94.33 and 97.33cm and at high concentration (100 mg/kg soil), it was 89.0 and 91.0 cm in the two seasons, respectively. This growth reduction can be explained by the decrease in plants' photosynthesis, whereas plants exposed to Cd toxicity had lower chlorophyll levels. At the anatomy level, high Cd concentrations resulted in anatomical abnormalities such as an unusual vascular system, abnormal lignification in the pith parenchyma, and enlarged cortical cells. Moreover, all Cd concentrations resulted in a highly significant decrease in stomatal area and stomatal density (the number of stomata per mm<sup>2</sup>). In addition to growth inhibition, Cd-induced oxidative damage to pea plants as indicated by increased hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. To reduce stress toxicity, plants treated with Cd at 50 and 100 (mg/kg) showed a significant increase in antioxidant capacity. Peroxidase (POD) enzyme activity was significantly increased by 41.26%, 28.64%, 77.05%, and 60.77% in both seasons, respectively. Si at 300 ppm under Cd (100 mg/kg) stress conductions considerably reduced (MDA) contents by 29.02% and 29.12%, in the two seasons, respectively. The findings pointed out that Si's ability to protect pea against the oxidative stress caused by Cd toxicity.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.997475
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
