Summary
Mature (flowering) tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. PBD6, Nicotiana rustica cv. Brasilia) and maize (Zea mays cv. INRA 260) plants were grown in an acid sandy-clay soil, enriched to 5.4 mg Cd kg−1 dry weight soil with cadmium nitrate. The plants were grown in containers in the open air. No visible symptoms of Cd toxicity developed on plant shoots over the 2-month growing period. Dry-matter yields showed that while the Nicotiana spp. were unaffected by the Cd application the yield of Z. mays decreased by 21%. Cd accumulation and distribution in leaves, stems and roots were examined. In the control treatment (0.44 mg Cd kg−1 dry weight soil), plant Cd levels ranged from 0.4 to 6.8 mg kg−1 dry weight depending on plant species and plant parts. Soil Cd enrichment invariably increased the Cd concentrations in plant parts, which varied from 10.1 to 164 mg kg−1 dry weight. The maximum Cd concentrations occurred in the leaves of N. tabacum. In N. rustica 75% of the total Cd taken up by the plant was transported to the leaves, and 81% for N. tabacum irrespective of the Cd level in the soil. In contrast, the Cd concentrations in maize roots were almost five times higher than those in the leaves. More than 50% of the total Cd taken up by maize was retained in the roots at both soil Cd levels. The Cd level in N. tabacum leaves was 1.5 and 2 times higher at the low and high Cd soil level, respectively, than that in N. rustica leaves, but no significant difference was found in root Cd concentrations between the two Nicotiana spp.
Cd bioavailability was calculated as the ratio of the Cd level in the control plants to that in the soil or as the ratio of the additional Cd taken up from cadmium nitrate to the amount of Cd applied. The results showed that the plant species used can be ranked in a decreasing order as follows: N. tabacum > N. rustica > Z. mays.
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Mench, M., Tancogne, J., Gomez, A. et al. Cadmium bioavailability to Nicotiana tabacum L., Nicotiana rustica L., and Zea mays L. grown in soil amended or not amended with cadmium nitrate. Biol Fert Soils 8, 48–53 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00260515
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00260515