title: Cadmium effects on growth and mineral nutrition of two halophytes: Sesuvium portulacastrum and Mesembryanthemum crystallinum.
abstract: Growth, cadmium accumulation and potassium and calcium status were studied in two halophytes from Aizoaceae family: Sesuvium portulacastrum and Mesembryanthemum crystallinum. After multiplication, the seedlings were cultivated on nutrient solution supplemented with NaCl (100mM) and CdCl2 (0, 50, 100, 200 and 300 microM). After 1 month of treatment, plants were harvested and the dry weight, as well as the Cd, K and Ca concentrations in tissues were determined. Results showed that S. portulacastrum, a perennial halophyte with slow growth, is significantly more tolerant to Cd than M. crystallinum, an annual plant. Cd severely inhibited Mesembryanthemum growth even at the lowest Cd concentration in culture medium (50 microM), and did not modify significantly that of Sesuvium. For both halophytes, Cd accumulation was significantly higher in the roots than in the shoots. However, Cd concentration reached 350-700 microg g(-1) DM in the shoots, values characteristic of Cd hyperaccumulator plants. The addition of Cd in the culture medium led to a disturbance of Ca and especially K nutrition, suggesting the possibility to improve plant growth and Cd phytoextraction of both halophytes by increasing nutrient availability in the culture medium.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Adaptation des Plantes aux Stress Abiotiques, INRST, Hammam-Lif, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Tahar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ghnaya
authors.forename: Issam
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nouairi
authors.forename: Inès
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Slama
authors.forename: Dorsaf
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Messedi
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grignon
authors.forename: Chedly
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abdelly
authors.forename: Mohamed Habib
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ghorbel
mesh_terms: D035722:Aizoaceae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D019256:Cadmium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003470:Culture Media; D035723:Mesembryanthemum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D019256:Cadmium Chloride