title: Assessment of the suitability of phytotoxkit plastic vertical containers compared with petri dishes for standard seedling growth tests.
abstract: This study compares two cultivation methods (Petri dishes vs. Phytotoxkit containers; tap water vs. Knop's solution) for standard seedling growth tests. Seeds and young seedlings of Sinapis alba and Hordeum vulgare were used as study subjects and the adverse effect of Cd was assessed. Under testing conditions, only H. vulgare showed a significant decrease in seed germination in Petri dishes when tap water was used as the growth medium (70.8 % ± 46.4 %). No significant differences in IC50 values were found in either plant type for root growth between plants cultivated in Phytotoxkit containers and those cultivated in Petri dishes. The same findings were confirmed for shoot growth in H. vulgare, but not in S. alba. Suitability of Phytotoxkit containers over traditionally used Petri dishes for phytotoxicity determination was confirmed by higher correlation coefficients for all tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina B2, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, molnarova@fns.uniba.sk.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molnárová
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Šmelková
authors.forename: Agáta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fargašová
mesh_terms: D010969:Plastics; D036226:Seedlings / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics