Bulletin of Botanical Research ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 614-626.doi: 10.7525/j.issn.1673-5102.2025.04.013

• Original Paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Tolerance and Enrichment Characteristics of Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis ‘Big Blue’ under Cadmium Stress

Ying WANG1,2, Maojin ZHAO1, Xiuming LIU1, Yixuan WU1, Jiahao ZHU1, Chengzhong WANG1()   

  1. 1.Suzhou Polytechnic Institute of Agriculture,Suzhou 215008
    2.Agricultural Microbiology Engineering Research Center,Ministry of Education,Harbin 150006
  • Received:2024-08-25 Online:2025-07-20 Published:2025-07-25
  • Contact: Chengzhong WANG E-mail:754409736@qq.com

Abstract:

To provide plant remediation materials with landscape properties for cadmium(Cd) contaminated soil, the experiment used a potted method to study the effects of different concentrations of exogenous cadmium(0, 200, 500 mgkg-1) on the tolerance and enrichment characteristics of Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis ‘Big Blue’.The results showed that with the increase of cadmium stress concentration, the biomass of leaves and roots decreased, and when the cadmium concentration was 200 mgkg-1, the leaf biomass didn’t decrease significantly compared with the control, while the root biomass decreased significantly compared with the control. The activities of catalase(CAT), peroxidase(POD), and superoxide dismutase(SOD) and contents of malondialdehyde(MDA), soluble protein, proline in leaves significantly increased compared with the control at cadmium concentration of 500 mgkg-1, and the corresponding indexes in roots significantly increased at cadmium concentration of 200 mgkg-1 compared with the control. The soluble sugar content of leaves and roots significantly increased at a concentration of 500 mgkg-1 compared with the control. The results indicated that Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis ‘Big Blue’had a certain tolerance to heavy metal cadmium, and the biomass decreased, the malondialdehyde contents increased, and the antioxidant enzyme activities and osmotic regulator contents increased to alleviate the toxicity of cadmium to Agapanthus praecox ssp.orientalis ‘Big Blue’ under high cadmium stress, and the roots were more sensitive to cadmium than the leaves.Chla, Chlb, Chla+b, Chla/b, and carotenoid content showed a downward trend, and the above five indicators were significantly lower than the control when the cadmium concentration was 500 mgkg-1. Except for intercellular CO2 concentration, transpiration rate, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance significantly decreased compared to the control at cadmium concentration of 500 mgkg-1. Except for non-photochemical quenching coefficient(NPQ), the maximum photochemistry efficiency(Fv/Fm), PSⅡ potential activity(Fv/Fo), the actual photochemical quantum efficiency(ΦPSⅡ), photochemical quenching coefficient(qP) were reduced at the cadmium concentration of 500 mgkg-1, which were significantly lower than those of the control. The enrichment coefficients of the leaves and roots of Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis ‘Big Blue’ were both less than 1, and the transport coefficients were both greater than 1. Although it didn’t fully meet the standards for cadmium hyperaccumulation plants, it had a strong enrichment effect on cadmium. Overall, it can be used as a plant remediation material with landscape effects,and the biomass and cadmium content of leaves and roots can be used as important indicators of the ability of the tolerance of Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis ‘Big Blue’ to cadmium stress.

Key words: cadmium stress, Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis ‘Big Blue’, tolerance, enrichment characteristics

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