The relationship between root morphology and cadmium accumulation in seedlings of two durum wheat cultivars

Abstract

Two cultivars of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) with known, and different, grain-Cd accumulation were used to compare root tissue accumulation of Cd with root morphology. Six-day-old 'Kyle' and 'Arcola' seedlings were exposed to a range of Cd2 + concentrations (3.91 × 10-8 - 3.91 × 10-7 M) for 0-200 min, and root Cd contents for the two cultivars were compared with root morphological characteristics. 'Kyle' roots contained 35% less Cd per root system after 200 min of exposure and had less root surface area and fewer root tips than 'Arcola'. 'Kyle' roots also contained 30% less Cd per gram of dry weight than 'Arcola' roots after 200 min of exposure. 'Kyle' roots also had fewer root tips per unit of root dry weight and less surface area per unit of dry weight (DW) than 'Arcola'. When cadmium concentration data (µg·g-1 DW) were expressed per unit of root surface area (µg·cm-2) and per number of root tips (µg·tip-1), the difference in root Cd content between the two cultivars was smaller. These results suggest that greater root Cd content of 'Arcola' than 'Kyle' can be explained by differences in morphology, specifically that a greater surface area and more root tips in 'Arcola' leads to greater Cd accumulation in root tissue.Key words: cadmium accumulation, durum wheat, root morphology.