Influence of Cadmium Ions on Growth and Antioxidant System Activity of Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) Seedlings

The investigation of the influence of CdCl2 different concentration (20, 50, and 100 M Cd) on germination of seeds and growth of germs of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has been carried out. The effect of Cd ions on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant system function of wheat shoots cells has been also studied. Cadmium concentrations and cultivar-dependent response to Cd were assessed. It has been shown that Cd treatment caused inhibition of length increase in shoots as well as increase of lipid peroxidation rate (MDA level) and lowered catalase activity. On the other hand Cd-induced oxidative stress was indicated by the markedly increase of guaiacol-peroxidase activity. The role of plant age on formation of biosystem reaction was also discussed in present work. The very high peroxidase activity in wheat shoots may be an important part of Cdresistance machinery of wheat. The obtained results indicated that Cd-tolerance of wheat may be related with the activation of the antioxidant system to avoiding the toxicity of heavy metal.