Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Effects of petroleum hydrocarbons on growth, photosynthetic pigments and carbohydrate levels of sunflower 

Author(s):

Fatemeh Gafari Rahbar ¹, Khadijeh Kiarostami ¹, Ravanbakhsh Shirdam ²

Recieved Date: 2011-11-18, Accepted Date: 2012-01-03

Abstract:

Some plants successfully resist the soil contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons. Not only they adapt to unfavorable conditions of soil but they also lead their metabolism in such a way that the plant tolerance level of contamination is as high as possible. In present study, the response of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seedlings to hydrocarbons was investigated in oil-contaminated soils. A half-open greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of petroleum hydrocarbons on growth, photosynthetic pigments and carbohydrate levels of sunflower through the first 30 days. The seeds of sunflower were grown in pots under two treatments: the control and contaminated soils. Parameters considered were relative water content, total biomass, length of root and shoot, leaf area, pigments and carbohydrate levels. The results of this study revealed that sunflower can survive soil contamination of about 18,000 mg/kg by metabolic changes with regard to reduce the destructive effects of petroleum hydrocarbons. However, root length and leaf area were reduced under contamination, but total biomass of sunflower didn’t have significant change under these conditions. Water deficit was one of the main stresses, which affected the growth of sunflower. In spite of water deficiency, photosynthetic pigments of sunflower (chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll and carotenoids) showed no significant decrease under these conditions. The results showed that the hydrocarbon stress significantly increased carbohydrate contents of plant (both reducing and polysaccharide carbohydrates). It seems that increase of polysaccharide content was due to activity of phytolignification in roots. The findings of this research  further highlighted the ability of some plants at the prevention of hydrocarbons disposal to above-ground, particularly photosynthetic tissues. 

Keywords:

Refinery, soil contamination, hydrocarbons, Helianthus annuus, 30-day-old seedlings, growth ability, water content, photosynthetic pigments, reducing carbohydrates, polysaccharides

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 1
Category: Environment
Pages: 773-776

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