Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is considered to be a non-essential heavy metal which have a significant impact on plants. Effect of cadmium on physiological as well as biochemical activities of two rice plants (var.– Udaygiri and var. Jagabandhu) were studied. The germination percentage of var. Udaygiri was 88.89 % at concentration 20 µM, 26.67% in 400 µM and that of var. Jagabandhu was 85.55 % in 20 µM, 21.11 % in 400 µM after four days of Cd treatment. The total chlorophyll content of var. Udaygiri and var. Jagabandhu at 400 µM was 248.44µg/g , 167.75µg/g respectively. Carotenoid content of var. Udaygiri and var. Jagabandhu at 400 µM was 98.93µg/g , 103.89 µg/g respectively. Starch content for both var. Udaygiri and var. Jagabandhu was found to be 14.84µg/g, 9.68µg/g respectively at 400 µM. The total sugar content at 400 µM was 3.01 µg/g and 2.26 µg/g for var. Udaygiri and var. Jagabandhu respectively. The proline content increased upon exposure to 20 µM to 400 µM cadmium. The above result revealed that increased Cd concentration in the medium showed decreased germination rate, photosynthetic activity, total sugar, starch, but there was an increase in the proline content at different time intervals (7-21 days).

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