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ABSTRACT
Response of castor (Ricinus communis L.) to cadmium (Cd) was assessed by a seed-suspending seedbed approach. Length of total radicle was the most sensitive indicator of Cd tolerance among the tested germination and growth characters. The ED50 value for Cd was 11.87 mg L−1, indicating high Cd tolerance in castor. A pot experiment was conducted by growing 46 varieties of castor under CK (without Cd) and Cd1 (10 mg kg−1 of Cd) and Cd2 (50 mg kg−1 of Cd) treatments to investigate genotype variations in growth response and Cd accumulation of castor under different Cd exposures. Castor possessed high Cd accumulation ability; average shoot and root Cd concentrations of the 46 tested varieties were 21.83 and 185.43 mg kg−1, and 174.99 and 1181.96 mg kg−1 under Cd1 and Cd2, respectively. Great variation in Cd accumulation was observed among varieties, and Cd concentration of castor was genotype dependent. The correlation between biomass and Cd accumulation was significantly positive, while no significant correlation was observed between Cd concentration and Cd accumulation, which indicated that biomass performance is the dominant factor in determining Cd accumulation ability.
Funding
This study was financially supported by the Key State Science and Technology Project of China (2009ZX07211-002-3) and the National Nature Science Foundation of China (nos. 20877104 and 21277178). Most of the castor seeds used in this study was provided for free by Oil crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.