Study of the Translocation and Distribution of Cadmium into Bean Plants (Phaseolus vulgaris) Using Labelled Cd-109

The motivation of this work was dictated by a concern of using bioaccumulative plant species likely to be used in the technique of bioindication. The obtained results and discussions proposed are approaches of chemist, because the mechanisms of the effect of cadmium on the various plant cells have been widely developed by several biologists. The use of labeled cadmium is important to study the uptake, the translocation and the metabolism at very low levels of this element in plants. Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), the model chosen for the investigation, was cultivated in vermiculite for 12 days. After this period, plants were transferred into 100 ml flasks containing nutrient solution and radioactive Cd-109 (γ, t1/2 = 461.3 days) with variable activity of: 0.05, 0.1 and 1.0 micro Currie (μCi). Samples were transferred to a growth room and left for periods of 4 and 7 days, then analyzed by the solid scintillation method. The counting was carried out for roots, stems and leaves.