Effect of uranium and cadmium uptake on oxidative stress reactions for Phaseolus vulgaris

Bean seedlings were grown under controlled conditions on a Hoagland solution. Ten-day-old seedlings were exposed to 0, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 µM U or 0.5 and 1 µM Cd. Following 7 days’ exposure, plants were sampled for determination of contaminant uptake, biometric parameters (shoot and root length, area of primary leaves, weight of shoot, root and primary leaves) and activity of enzymes involved in the plant’s anti-oxidative defense mechanisms. Generally we did not observe a significant difference in plant development between control and treated plants based on biometric parameters. Enzyme activities in roots were stimulated with increasing contaminant concentrations (though generally not significantly). However, for roots exposed to 1000 µM U, enzyme activity was generally significantly reduced. In shoots no significant difference in the defense mechanism between the treatments was observed.