Exogenous glutathione reduces the damage induced by cadmium in cucumber seedlings

Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity is a worldwide problem for crop production. The present work used hydroponic experiments to investigate the ameliorating effects and physiological mechanisms of glutathione (GSH) mitigation of Cd toxicity in cucumber seedlings. The results revealed that Cd was mainly accumulated in roots of cucumber, 100 μM GSH pretreatment in 50 μM Cd solution significantly recovered Cd-induced growth inhibition, improved photosynthetic and chlorophyll fluorescence performance. Moreover, external GSH obviously depressed hydroxyl free radical (·OH) and malondialdehyde accumulation, increased the total antioxidant capacity in cucumber exposed to Cd. Results indicated that pre-treatment of GSH can alleviate Cd toxicity by reducing Cd uptake and ROS accumulation, reduce the negative consequences of oxidative stress caused by Cd toxicity, moreover protect photosynthetic machinery from damaging, balance nutrients and antioxidants in cucumber.