Cadmium uptake by lettuce varieties.

The uptake of Cd by lettuce cultivars was studied in soil and water culture experiments (16 and 8 cultivars, respectively). In the soil experiment, sandy soils from both a Cd-contaminated and a non-contaminated area of the Netherlands were used; the water culture experiment included 3 Cd levels (0, 0.03 and 0.1 mg/litre). Fresh and dry yields of shoots and roots were hardly affected by Cd in either of the experiments. The lettuce cultivars showed a close similarity in shoot Cd concentration, ranging from 8.23 to 10.72 micro g/g DW for the Cd-contaminated soil and from 3.96 to 8.83 micro g/g DW in the water culture at the highest Cd level tested. These results contradict published data on a large genotypic variation in Cd concentration in lettuce [see John, M. K. et al, Environmental Pollution (1976) 10, 163-173]. Based on the narrow range in shoot (and root) Cd concentration between cultivars, it is concluded that it is unwarranted to use lettuce as a pilot plant in comparative physiological investigations on Cd uptake and distribution. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)