Effect of Calcium and Potassium on Antioxidant System of Vicia faba L. Under Cadmium Stress.docVIP

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 6604-6619; doi:10.3390/ijmOPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 /journal/ijms Article Effect of Calcium and Potassium on Antioxidant System of Vicia faba L. Under Cadmium Stress Manzer H. Siddiqui *, Mohamed H. Al-Whaibi, Ahmed M. Sakran, Mohammed O. Basalah and Hayssam M. Ali Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; E-Mails: mwhaibi@.sa (M.H.A.-W.); ahmed_sakran@ (A.M.S.); basalah@.sa (M.O.B.); hayssam77@ (H.M.A.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: manzerhs@yahoo.co.in; Tel.: +966 Fax: +966 Received: 5 April 2012; in revised form: 21 May 2012 / Accepted: 22 May 2012 / Published: 29 May 2012 Abstract: Cadmium (Cd) in soil poses a major threat to plant growth and productivity. In the present experiment, we studied the effect of calcium (Ca2+) and/or potassium (K+) on the antioxidant system, accumulation of proline (Pro), malondialdehyde (MDA), and content of photosynthetic pigments, cadmium (Cd) and nutrients, i.e., Ca2+ and K+ in leaf of Vicia faba L. (cv. TARA) under Cd stress. Plants grown in the presence of Cd exhibited reduced growth traits [root length (RL) plant?1, shoot length (SL) plant?1, root fresh weight (RFW) plant?1, shoot fresh weight (SFW) plant?1, root dry weight (RDW) plant?1 and shoot dry weight (SDW) plant?1] and concentration of Ca2+, K+, Chlorophyll (Chl) a and Chl b content, except content of MDA, Cd and (Pro). The antioxidant enzymes [peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD)] slightly increased as compared to control under Cd stress. However, a significant improvement was observed in all growth traits and content of Ca2+, K+, Chl a, Chl b ,Pro and activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT), POD and SOD in plants subjected to Ca2+ and/or K+. The maximum alleviating effect was recorded in the