Cadmium-induced changes in soil biochemical characteristics of oat (Avena sativa L.) rhizosphere during early growth stages
Stefania Astolfi A D , Sabrina Zuchi A , Fabrizio De Cesare B , Luigi Badalucco C and Stefano Grego A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A DAFNE, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Via S. C. de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy.
B DIBAF, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Via S. C. de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy.
C Dipartimento dei Sistemi Agro-Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze 13, I-90128 Palermo, Italy.
D Corresponding author. Email: sastolfi@unitus.it
Soil Research 49(7) 642-651 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR11158
Submitted: 30 June 2010 Accepted: 18 October 2011 Published: 17 November 2011
Abstract
A microcosm was assembled to physically separate soil from roots and was used to study both the impact of living roots on the soil–plant system during early stages of growth and plant responses to abiotic stress. Oat (Avena sativa L.) seedlings were grown in the microcosm unit for 44 days. Twenty-three days after planting, 0.154 mg CdSO4/g dry soil was added. Plants grown in Cd-treated microcosms showed considerable inhibition of shoot growth rates, and leaf chlorophyll content. Soil microbial biomass C and respiration increased with plant age, and most of the measured biochemical indicators decreased with increasing distance from the soil–root interface, thus demonstrating the rhizosphere effect, likely due to the quick assimilation of rhizodeposits by rhizosphere microflora. On the other hand, short-term Cd contamination sometimes had an inhibitory effect on soil respiration, qCO2, ATP content, and phosphatase activity, while stimulating microbial biomass, mainly at the rhizosphere level. The decrease in rhizosphere microbial activity observed after Cd application to soil may be due to a synergic effect of the metal directly on microbial cells and indirectly on plants, which reduced shoot growth rate and chlorophyll content, resulting in decreased availability of root exudates.
Additional keywords: heavy metals, microbial activity, microbial biomass, Cd, rhizosphere, oat.
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