Recovery from acute silver toxicity by bush beans grown in solution culture

Abstract

Bush bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Improved Tendergreen) that had been severely damaged by application of silver nitrate to nutrient solution, recovered at least partially after the Ag had been removed from the nutrient solution. A transition period of about 2 weeks was necessary before plants were growing normally. Silver, which usually accumulates in roots rather than in shoots, was detectable in slight amounts in stems of recovered plants and remained in or on roots even when no longer toxic.

Key words:

• Phytotoxicity
• silver
• recovery from acute toxicity