Effect of cadmium stress on seed germination and seedling morpho-physiological growth parameters of barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea Link)

Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal, which is seen in the contaminated soils and severely affects the growth and development of plants in recent years. The study on the seed germination and morpho-physiological growth characteristics of barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea) cultivar CO (KV) 2 treated with different concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 mg/kg of soil) of Cd were evaluated at 15th, 30th, and 45th day of interval. The findings of this research demonstrate that the maximum dosage of Cd (250 mg/kg of soil) affects the germination percentage (65%) of barnyard millet. Seedling vigor index has been negatively influences a drop in germination percentage. Increasing concentrations of Cd reveals the growth of root and shoot length and the quantity of fresh and dry weight affected. The phytotoxicity percentage of roots and shoots also increases with increasing concentrations of Cd, whereas the tolerance index level decreases with increasing concentrations of Cd. In root and shoot, the relative growth index was reduced in higher concentration of Cd. The relative water content remains high in the initial stages of leaf development and declines when the leaf matures. From this study, it was found that the increase in the concentration of Cd leads to decrease the germination percentage and morpho-physiological growth parameters as compared to control.

Recent progress on the microbial mitigation of heavy metal stress in soybean: overview and implications

“…Heavy metal stress is a kind of abiotic stress that negatively affects the productivity of various crops, such as tomato ( Marques et al., 2023 ; Khan et al., 2023a ), rice ( Mao et al., 2022 ; Zhao et al., 2023 ), wheat ( Din et al., 2023 ; Noor et al., 2023 ), millet ( Revathy and Shanker, 2023 ; Khan et al., 2023b ), maize ( Hafeez et al., 2023 ; Tang et al., 2023 ), soybean ( Lavado et al., 2001 ; Martin Molinero et al., 2023 ), and others. Heavy metal remediation is required for environmental protection and conservation.…”