Role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in Raphanus sativus
The continuous contamination of heavy metals (HMs) in our ecosystem due to industrialization, urbanization and other anthropogenic activities has become a serious environmental constraint to successful crop production. Lead (Pb) toxicity causes ionic, oxidative and osmotic injuries which induce vari...
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PeerJ Inc.
2025-01-01
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| author | Muhammad Sajid Shakil Ahmed Rehana Sardar Aamir Ali Nasim Ahmad Yasin |
| author_facet | Muhammad Sajid Shakil Ahmed Rehana Sardar Aamir Ali Nasim Ahmad Yasin |
| author_sort | Muhammad Sajid |
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| description | The continuous contamination of heavy metals (HMs) in our ecosystem due to industrialization, urbanization and other anthropogenic activities has become a serious environmental constraint to successful crop production. Lead (Pb) toxicity causes ionic, oxidative and osmotic injuries which induce various morphological, physiological, metabolic and molecular abnormalities in plants. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is widely used to elucidate drought stress induction and alleviation mechanisms in treated plants. Some recent studies have unveiled the potential of PEG in regulating plant growth and developmental procedures including seed germination, root and shoot growth and alleviating the detrimental impacts of abiotic stresses in plants. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the effects of seed priming with various concentrations (10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) of PEG on the growth and development of radish plants growing under Pb stress (75 mg/kg soil). Lead toxicity reduced root growth (32.89%), shoot growth (32.81%), total chlorophyll (56.25%) and protein content (58.66%) in treated plants. Similarly, plants showed reduced biomass production of root (35.48%) and shoot (31.25%) under Pb stress, while 30% PEG seed priming enhanced biomass production of root (28.57%) and shoot (35.29%) under Pb contaminated regimes. On the other hand, seedlings obtained from 30% PEG priming demonstrated a notable augmentation in the concentrations of photosynthetic pigments, antioxidative activity and biomass accumulation of the plants. PEG-treated plants showed modulations in the enzymatic activities of peroxidase (PO), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). These changes collectively played a role in mitigating the adverse effects of Pb on plant physiology. Our data revealed that PEG interceded stress extenuation encompasses numerous regulatory mechanisms including scavenging of ROS through antioxidant and non-antioxidants, improved photosynthetic activity and appropriate nutrition. Hence, it becomes necessary to elucidate the beneficial role of PEG in developing approaches for improving plant growth and stress tolerance. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-4ecb4c87ded5417993835eaf758f8b922025-01-11T15:05:08ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592025-01-0113e1814710.7717/peerj.18147Role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in Raphanus sativusMuhammad Sajid0Shakil Ahmed1Rehana Sardar2Aamir Ali3Nasim Ahmad Yasin4Institute of Botany, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, PakistanInstitute of Botany, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, PakistanDepartment of Botany, Emerson University, Multan, PakistanDepartment of Botany, University of Sargodha,, Sargodha, Punjab, PakistanFaculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, PakistanThe continuous contamination of heavy metals (HMs) in our ecosystem due to industrialization, urbanization and other anthropogenic activities has become a serious environmental constraint to successful crop production. Lead (Pb) toxicity causes ionic, oxidative and osmotic injuries which induce various morphological, physiological, metabolic and molecular abnormalities in plants. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is widely used to elucidate drought stress induction and alleviation mechanisms in treated plants. Some recent studies have unveiled the potential of PEG in regulating plant growth and developmental procedures including seed germination, root and shoot growth and alleviating the detrimental impacts of abiotic stresses in plants. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the effects of seed priming with various concentrations (10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) of PEG on the growth and development of radish plants growing under Pb stress (75 mg/kg soil). Lead toxicity reduced root growth (32.89%), shoot growth (32.81%), total chlorophyll (56.25%) and protein content (58.66%) in treated plants. Similarly, plants showed reduced biomass production of root (35.48%) and shoot (31.25%) under Pb stress, while 30% PEG seed priming enhanced biomass production of root (28.57%) and shoot (35.29%) under Pb contaminated regimes. On the other hand, seedlings obtained from 30% PEG priming demonstrated a notable augmentation in the concentrations of photosynthetic pigments, antioxidative activity and biomass accumulation of the plants. PEG-treated plants showed modulations in the enzymatic activities of peroxidase (PO), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). These changes collectively played a role in mitigating the adverse effects of Pb on plant physiology. Our data revealed that PEG interceded stress extenuation encompasses numerous regulatory mechanisms including scavenging of ROS through antioxidant and non-antioxidants, improved photosynthetic activity and appropriate nutrition. Hence, it becomes necessary to elucidate the beneficial role of PEG in developing approaches for improving plant growth and stress tolerance.https://peerj.com/articles/18147.pdfAntioxidant Plant growth Pb PEG Radish |
| spellingShingle | Muhammad Sajid Shakil Ahmed Rehana Sardar Aamir Ali Nasim Ahmad Yasin Role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in Raphanus sativus PeerJ Antioxidant Plant growth Pb PEG Radish |
| title | Role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in Raphanus sativus |
| title_full | Role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in Raphanus sativus |
| title_fullStr | Role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in Raphanus sativus |
| title_full_unstemmed | Role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in Raphanus sativus |
| title_short | Role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in Raphanus sativus |
| title_sort | role of polyethylene glycol to alleviate lead stress in raphanus sativus |
| topic | Antioxidant Plant growth Pb PEG Radish |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/18147.pdf |
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