Establishment of an in vitro system to evaluate the toxic effect of Cadmium on the root architecture of plants

The effect of cadmium in the root architecture of Cucumis sativus L. seedlings was determined. Primary root length and lateral root density of C. sativus L. seedlings exposed to 10, 20, 30, 50 and 100 ppm concentrations of Cd2+ was monitoring. The results show that at high concentrations of Cd occurs a lower growth in primary root length, where 50 and 100 ppm of Cd concentrations inhibit the primary root elongation. On the other hand, lateral root density formed increased when seedlings were exposed to higher concentrations of Cd2+. In 100 ppm treatment the highest lateral root density (19.2) was observed almost five times higher than control (4.0). The C. sativus L. root architecture is most affected at 50 and 100 ppm of Cd2+,