Soil contamination with toxic metals poses an increasingly serious environmental threat worldwide. Elevated concentrations of metals in soil disrupt natural biogeochemical cycles, leading to deteriorated conditions for plant growth. Therefore, analyzing plant tolerance to various pollutants, identifying physiological changes, and understanding the mechanisms of adaptation are key areas of modern biology. In this work, the features of the effect of nickel nitrate on the growth of white mustard plants (Sinapis alba L.) in vitro were characterized, including the stages of seed germination and the extended cultivation period in the presence of Ni(II) in the medium. The seeds were germinated in Petri dishes on Murashige and Skoog medium with a halved content of components, to which Ni(II) was added at concentrations of 5 mg/L and 10 mg/L. Plant growth after seed germination was analyzed by growing seedlings in plastic containers with a perforated base in cells for root contact with the medium. The weight of roots and shoots of control and treated plants was compared. Analysis of Ni(II) content was carried out by reaction with dimethylglyoxime. Plant resistance/sensitivity was assessed by tolerance index (TI) for roots (TIr) and shoots (TIsh) separately and bioconcentration factors (mBCF and BCFT). The weight of the aboveground part of seedlings under short-term exposure (7 days) to the metal was half that of the control; the root weight decreased in 22.78 times. The experiment on root induction in isolated shoots for two weeks showed almost complete inhibition of root formation (TIr was 0.31±0.10 and 0.05±0.01) and a significant decrease in the weight of shoots (TIsh was 0.66±0.14 and 0.23±0.02) for 5 mg/L and 10 mg/L Ni(II), respectively. In case of growing germinated seeds for a longer period (two weeks) in the presence of 5 mg/L and 10 mg/L Ni(II) in the medium, a decrease in shoot weight was observed (172.33±8.83 mg in the control, and 144.80±12.38 mg and 84.33±7.66 mg in the presence of 5 mg/L and 10 mg/L Ni(II), respectively), as well as a significant decrease in the weight of the roots (32.40±5.89 mg and 4.33±0.76 mg) which was 54.00±1.73 mg in the control. The shoot tolerance index was significantly lower when using Ni(II) at a concentration of 10 mg/L (TIsh = 0.49±0.05 units) compared to the TIsh variant with the addition of 5 mg/L Ni(II) in the medium (TIsh = 0.84±0.08 units). A decrease in the root tolerance index was observed at the presence of a high concentration of Ni(II) in the medium (TIr = 0.08±0.01 units compared to TIr = 0.60±0.11 units at 5 mg/L Ni(II) in the medium). Therefore, the prolonged action of Ni(II) has led to the inhibition of the growth of not only roots, but also plant shoots. Thus, despite the fact that white mustard plants were able to extract nickel from the medium and accumulate it (91.05±8.65 mg/g of raw material), these findings indicate that these plants are not resistant to the action of the metal, since the metal bioconcentration factor (BCFT) did not exceed 0.19±0.03 and mBCF<1, and the root system underwent significant growth inhibition. Accordingly, Sinapis alba L. plants cannot be used for phytoremediation of nickel-contaminated soils as phytoextractors.
Keywords: Sinapis alba L., Ni(II), toxicity, phytoextraction
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