Influence of cadmium dose and form on the yield of oat (Avena sativa L.) and the metal distribution in the plant
Abstract
The influence of two levels of artificial Cd soil contamination on the weight of oat plants, chlorophyll content in leaves, rate of photosynthesis, stomatal conductivity and transpiration rate was researched in a pot experiments with Avena sativa L. Another objective was to detect the effect of cadmium contamination of soil on the content of cadmium in the dry mass of oat panicles, stems, upper green and bottom yellow leaves and roots.
High correlation was found between the measured levels of photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductivity and transpiration rates, but no correlation occurred between these levels and the cadmium content in leaves. In the variants with Cd contamination, insignificantly higher levels of photosynthesis rates were observed in the measurements than in the zero variant.
A 10-fold higher Cd application dose significantly manifested itself by a higher content of Cd in all the analyzed parts of plants, including generative organs. A several-fold higher Cd level was found in the roots than in other parts of the plant, whereas the lowest Cd content was observed in panicles.