Abstract

ROSSI, Celso  and  LIMA, Giuseppina Pace Pereira. Cadmium and the activity of peroxidase during bean seed germination. Sci. agric. [online]. 2001, vol.58, n.1, pp. 197-199. ISSN 0103-9016.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-90162001000100030.

Seeds of common bean seeds cv. Carioca were germinated in the dark in different concentrations of cadmium (1, 2, 5 and 10 mmol L^-1) and collected after 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours with the objective of verifying if theperoxidase activity could be used as a biochemical marker of stress induced by cadmium. Alterations in the peroxidase activity (EC 1.11.1.7) were oberved in the cotyledons as well as in roots, as a function of the exhibition time of seeds in different cadmium concentrations. This enzyme can be used as a stress marker caused by cadmium during bean seed germination as an indicative of possible injure of the seeds by this metal.

Keywords : Phaseolus vulgaris; peroxidase; cadmium; seeds.