Ameliorative effects of Sargassum stolonifolium amendment on physiological and biochemical parameters in Brassica chinensis L. under cadmium contaminated soil

This research was carried out to examine the effects of Sargassum stolonifolium on reducing cadmium in Brassica chinensis L. tissue, its influential roles on physiological parameters and antioxidant mechanism in B. chinensis exposed to cadmium stress. Different levels of Cd (50 mg and 100 mg) with and without S. stolonifolium (25g, 50g and 100g) under five replications were explored in this study. Biomass, photosynthetic pigment, relative water content (RWC), malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), total antioxidant activity (TAA), non-protein thiol (NPT), protein thiol PT), protein bound thiol, glutathione (GSH), phytochelatins, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), Catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and guaiacol peroxidase (POD) were determined. The results revealed that Cd stress significantly (P < 0.05) reduced plant biomass and physiological attributes, and accumulated higher Cd concentrations in plant tissues with the increasing rate of Cd concentration in the soil. However, incorporation of S. stolonifolium at 100 g rate in 50 mg Cd (T4) spiked soil increased the FW (40.6%) and DW (72.2%) relative to the respective treatment without S. stolonifolium. Similarly, Cd accumulation in roots, stem and leaves was decreased by 90.25%, 82.93% and 84.6% respectively compared to T1 (50 mg Cd) and thereby reducing leaf MDA and H2O2 contents by 40.1% and 68.8%, respectively, at 50 mg Cd kg(-1) spiked soil relative to T1. An increase was noticed in the chlorophyll a, b, carotenoid, SPAD and RWC with a value of 114.6%, 20.7%, 73.7%, 44.8%, and 6.3%, respectively, over the control (T0). DPPH scavenging activity and TAA increased 119.8 and 81.5% percent respectively over the T0. Concentration increment of NPT, TT, GSH and PCs by 66.7%, 49.1%, 60.1%, 96.1% and 3.4% respectively, was noticed in T4 compared to T0. Antioxidant enzymes activities increased by APX (92.8%), CAT (73.1%), SOD (20.9%) and POD (88.9%) for T4 compared to the control. S. stolonifolium has the potential to improve growth and increase the defensive system of B. chinensis and ameliorate cadmium phytotoxicity as well as immobilization.