Open Access

ARTICLE

Ameliorative Role of Pre-Sowing Proline Treatment in Coriandrum sativum L. Seedlings under Mercury Toxicity

Dhriti Kapoor¹, Kapani Kavani¹, Amandeep Rattan², Marco Landi^3,*, Anket Sharma^4,*

1 Department of Botany, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, 144411, India
2 Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, 143005, India
3 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, 56124, Italy
4 State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, 311300, China

* Corresponding Authors: Anket Sharma. Email: ; Marco Landi. Email:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2021, 90(2), 489-501. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2021.012359

Received 27 June 2020; Accepted 30 September 2020; Issue published 07 February 2021

Abstract

Heavy metal toxicity is one of the major ecosystem concerns globally in present time and is also responsible for significant threat to agronomic crops. The current work was conducted to investigate the possible ameliorative role of proline in Coriandrum sativum L. seedlings treated with mercury (Hg). The seedlings were exposed to different concentrations of Hg (0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mM) for 20 days. The effects of pre-sowing treatment with proline were studied on C. sativum seedlings in terms of pigment (chlorophylls, carotenoids and anthocyanins), malondialdehyde (MDA), antioxidant compound (glutathione, total phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid) and osmolytes (proline, glycine betaine). Additionally, activities of antioxidant enzymes, namely catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) were also studied. A strong decline of photosynthetic pigment concentrations was observed in leaves of C. sativum under Hg toxicity. Treatment of seeds with proline reduced the loss of photosynthetic pigments, counteract Hg-triggered oxidative stress, likely preserving the functionality of antioxidant apparatus under Hg stress. The increment of total polyphenols and glycine betaine also contributed in ameliorating Hg toxicity, suggesting the use of exogenous proline as a potential method to enhance the plant tolerance against heavy metal stress.

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