Effects of Nickel Concentration and some Environmental Factors on the Growth of Wheat Seedlings

Nickel is one of the essential elements (micronutrients) for plant growth. In this study, the effects of different concentrations of nickel, (0, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640 and 1280μ M) and some environmental factors such as pH and Ca2+ concentration on the growth of seedlings of four wheat cultivars (Sardari, Zarrin, Alamout and C-73-20) were investigated. Moreover, the impact of high concentration of Ni on root sugar secretion has been assessed using sulphuric-phenol method. The results indicated that Alamout was more resistant than the other cultivars regarding to nickel stress. On the other hand, root and shoot tissues showed different growth responses to Ni and radical growth was more sensitive than shoot growth. Decreased pH increased the impact effect of nickel on shoot and root growth. Our study showed that increasing Ca2+concentration decreases Ni toxicity. Finally, Ni inhibited the leakage of soluble sugars from root tissue.