Effect of heavy metals on the leaf disc ferricyanide reduction in cucumber

Abstract

The effect of heavy metals on the leaf plasma membrane electron transport systems was investigated in connection with the tissue Fe concentration in Fe-sufficient and Fe-deficient cucumber leaves. Ten M μPb in the nutrient solution inhibited leaf ferricyanide reduction by 20–26%, whereas 10 M μCd had a more drastic effect, with 80–83% inhibition. Ferricyanide reduction decreased by 14% when 1 mM Pb was applied in situ by vacuum infiltration into control leaf discs, whereas it decreased by 40% when 0.1 mM Cd was applied. Ferricyanide reduction was completely inhibited by 1 mM Cd. The ferricyanide reduction values were correlated with the heavy metal, Fe and chlorophyll concentrations in the leaves. A significant linear correlation was only found with the chlorophyll concentration. The data suggest that there are also direct effects on membranebound reductases, but these are of less significance. Using differentially Fe-deficient plants (grown with 0 to 300 nM Fe in the nutrient solution), a chlorophyll concentration of 0.9–1.0 mg g −1 fresh weight was estimated as the threshold for achieving the ferricyanide reduction levels found in the controls.