Assessment of cadmium accumulation, toxicity, and tolerance in Brassicaceae and Fabaceae plants—implications for phytoremediation

This study, based on a greenhouse pot culture experiment conducted with 15-day-old rapeseed (Brassica campestris L. cv. Pusa Gold; family Brassicaceae) and moong bean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek cv. Pusa Ratna; family Fabaceae) plants treated with cadmium (Cd) concentrations (0, 50, and 100 mg kg⁻¹soil), investigates their potential for Cd accumulation and tolerance, and dissects the underlying basic physiological/biochemical mechanisms. In both species, plant dry mass decreased, while Cd concentration of both root and shoot increased with increase in soil Cd. Roots harbored a higher amount of Cd (vs. shoot) in B. campestris, while the reverse applied to V. radiata. By comparison, root Cd concentration was higher in B. campestris than in V. radiata. The high Cd concentrations in B. campestris roots and V. radiata shoots led to significant elevation in oxidative indices, as measured in terms of electrolyte leakage, H₂O₂content, and lipid peroxidation. Both plants displayed differential adaptation strategies to counteract the Cd burden-caused anomalies in their roots and shoots. In B. campestris, increasing Cd burden led to a significantly decreased reduced glutathione (GSH) content but a significant increase in activities of GSH reductase (GR), GSH peroxidase (GPX), and GSH sulfotransferase (GST). However, in V. radiata, increasing Cd burden caused significant increase in GSH content and GR activity, but a significant decline in activities of GPX and GST. Cross talks on Cd burden of tissues and the adapted Cd tolerance strategies against Cd burden-accrued toxicity indicated that B. campestris and V. radiata are good Cd stabilizer and Cd extractor, respectively, wherein a fine tuning among the major components (GR, GPX, GST, GSH) of the GSH redox system helped the plants to counteract differentially the Cd load-induced anomalies in tissues. On the whole, the physiological/biochemical characterization of the B. campestris and V. radiata responses to varying Cd concentrations can be of great help in elaborating the innovative plant-based remediation technologies for metal/metalloid-contaminated sites.