Chromium toxicity in Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr

Chromium is one of the most common toxic metals present in the environment that induces various toxic effects in plants. A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of chromium on germination percentage, seedling growth, chlorophyll ‘a’, ‘b’ and proline content of Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr. The seedlings were treated with different concentrations of control, 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 g kg-1 of chromium. The parameters such as germination percentage, root and shoot length, seedling fresh weight dry weight, chlorophyll ‘a’, ‘b’ and proline content of leaves were measured. Our results indicated that a significant inhibitory effect was observed at all levels of chromium compared to control. Increasing the concentration of chromium to 1.00 g kg-1 showed a significant decrease in seed germination, shoot and root length, fresh weight, dry weight and chlorophyll ‘a’ and ‘b’ content of plant. While proline, catalase and peroxidase contents were increased by increasing Cr concentration. It was also noted that accumulation of chromium in the roots was much higher than the shoots of the seedlings under treatment.