Naveed Gulzar*, Asif Hussain Hajam, Ishfaq Shafi Khan, Shabeer Ahmad Dar and Haneef Mohammad Bhat
Nickel is well thought-out to be an indispensable micronutrient for plants, however at excess concentration, it proves toxic to the plants and toxicity of this metal has been attributed to its negative effect on various physiological and biochemical parameters as photosynthesis, mineral nutrition, sugar transport and plant water relationship. In this study, it was assessed that different concentrations of nickel appreciably effect the levels of soluble sugar, proline and glycinebetaine along phosphorus metabolism in two cultivars of wheat (UP2382 and VL616) but the cultivar VL616 was found to be more responsive to nickel stress. The present study encompassed two experimental lines simultaneously involving nickel treatment viz. 50μM (T1), 100μM (T2) and 150μM (T3) in both cultivars (UP2382 and VL616). The results of the study indicated highly significant (p < 0.001) changes in the biological parameters evaluated in nickel treated wheat plants as compared to their controls. The study proposed that the Cultivar VL616 was more responsive to nickel stress as evidenced by the higher accumulation of sugar, glycinebetaine and proline contents and exhibited minimum decrease in the phosphate levels during the course of nickel treatments than UP2382 cultivar. There might be increase in Salicylic acid and Abcessic acid levels in cultivar UP2382 than in cultivar VL616 that makes the cultivar UP2382 less susceptible to nickel stress. Thus, Nickel stress leads to change in various biological parameters in wheat plants and by increasing the concentration of this micronutrient, there is variable changes in these parameters. However, plants combat abiotic stress factors by regulating the levels of these biological parameters.
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