Author(s):

Divya Srivastava, Mamta Baunthiyal, Adesh Kumar, Kavita Yadav, Dheeraj Yadav and Sharvan Kumar

Abstract: Lead (Pb) is the most common heavy metal contaminant in the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. It enters the ecosystem through various natural and anthropogenic sources. Plants absorb Pb from their environment; but it is not an essential element. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a main link in tropic chain; and it is one of the economically important food crops. Wheat is also the main pathway for ingestion of the pollutant by humans and animals through food and feed. The present work discusses how Pb affects nutrient uptake and metabolism in wheat, Pb gets accumulated in a dose-dependent manner in wheat plant, and causes toxicity in the plant. A pot-culture experiment was conducted to study the effects of Pb (applied as lead acetate) on two wheat varieties: PBW-373and PBW-343. Lead was applied to wheat seedlings at 0, 2, 4 and 8 g/kg quantity of lead acetate mixed with soil. The shoot length was observed to be decreased slowly with increasing concentration and at the highest concentration of Pb, the root length was decreased by four times of control in both variety. It decreased the growth and yield of plant as well as different parameters of growth measurements. Both varieties PBW 373 and PBW 343 has a great capacity to accumulate lead which shows their tolerance against lead but PBW 373 has a higher capacity of accumulation as compared to PBW 343.

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