Amelioration of mercurial toxicity by manganese. I. A case study in mung bean seedling.

ABSTRACT

Mercury, a non essential element renders inhibitory effect on many physiological activities of plants even at a low concentration. Plants absorb "Hg" from soil through root system. Manganese, an essential element has been found to counter the inhibitory effect of mercury mostly by preventing it's uptake from soil. Mung bean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) cv. Pusa Baisakhi grown in individual (1, 10, 100 and 1000 ppm) solution of Hg and Mn showed varied uptake of these heavy metals. However, in combined solutions (1 1, 10 1 and 1 10 ppm Hg Mn), mercury uptake was mostly prevented in presence of 10 ppm Mn, indicating it's ameliorating effect.