Effect of lead treatment on some morphological and physiological parameters of Petunia hybrida L

Heavy metal pollution is one of the serious problems in the world. Among the heavy metals, lead is a strong pollutant that readily accumulates in soils and sediments. This study was designed to find out the effect of Pb toxicity on developmental and physiological particularity in Petunia hybrida L. For this purpose, Petunia seeds were planted in green housed condition and different concentrations of lead acetate including 400, 800 and 1200 µmol/L were spread on the plants, and control group were spread with water. Results showed that the percentage of germination, root and shoot length, leaf area, plant height, the amount of chlorophyll a, b and a were reduced, and an increase in the activity of catalase and peroxidase under lead treatment were observed. The peroxidase enzyme activity increased up to 800 µmol /L of lead and then slightly decreased at 1200 µmol /L. Lead treatment didn’t have a significant effect on total protein content. The results of this study showed that the toxicity of Pb had detrimental effects on plants and although plants dont need to heavy metal, uptake by plants and leading to negative effects on their function.