Cadmium (Cd) contamination of croplands jeopardizes sustainable crop production and human health. However, curtailing Cd transfer and mobility in the rhizosphere-plant system is challenging. Sole application of biochar (BC) and thiourea (TU) has been reported to restrain Cd toxicity and uptake in plants. However, the combined applications of BC and TU in mitigating the harmful effects of Cd on plants have not yet been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the integrated impact of three maize stalk BC application rates [B 0 (0% w/w), B 1 (2.5% w/w), and B 2 (5% w/w)] and three TU foliar application rates [T 0 (0 mg L-1), T 1 (600 mg L-1), and T 2 (1,200 mg L-1)] in remediating the adverse effects of Cd on maize growth, development, and physiology. Results demonstrated that Cd concentration in soil inhibited plant growth by reducing leaf area, photosynthesis activity, and enhanced oxidative stress in maize. Nevertheless, BC and TU application in combination (B 2 T 2) improved the fresh biomass, shoot height, leaf area, and photosynthesis rate of maize plants by 27, 42, 36, and 15%, respectively, compared with control (B 0 T 0). Additionally, the oxidative stress values [malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and electrolyte leakage (EL)] were minimized by 26, 20, and 21%, respectively, under B 2 T 2 as compared with B 0 T 0. Antioxidant enzyme activities [superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)] were 81 and 58%, respectively, higher in B 2 T 2 than in B 0 T 0. Besides, the shoot and root Cd concentrations were decreased by 42 and 49%, respectively, under B 2 T 2 compared with B 0 T 0. The recent study showed that the integrated effects of BC and TU have significant potential to improve the growth of maize on Cd-contaminated soil by reducing Cd content in plant organs (shoots and roots).

College of Agronomy and Biotechnology China Agricultural University Key Laboratory of Farming System Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China Beijing China

College of Agronomy Northwest A and F University Yangling China

College of Resources and Environmental Sciences Gansu Agricultural University Lanzhou China

Department of Agronomy Faculty of Agriculture Kafrelsheikh University Kafr el Sheikh Egypt

Department of Botany and Plant Physiology Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czechia

Department of Plant Production College of Food and Agriculture King Saud University Riyadh Saudi Arabia

Departmet of Agronomy Ghazi University Dera Ghazi Khan Pakistan

Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences The University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan

Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources Slovak University of Agriculture Nitra Slovakia

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Abbas T., Rizwan M., Ali S., Zia-ur-Rehman M., Farooq Qayyum M., Abbas F., et al. (2017). Effect of biochar on cadmium bioavailability and uptake in wheat ( PubMed DOI

AbdElgawad H., Zinta G., Hamed B. A., Selim S., Beemster G., Hozzein W. N., et al. (2020). Maize roots and shoots show distinct profiles of oxidative stress and antioxidant defense under heavy metal toxicity. PubMed

Aebi H. (1984). Catalase in vitro. PubMed DOI

Ahmad P., Abd Allah E. F., Hashem A., Sarwat M., Gucel S. (2016). Exogenous application of selenium mitigates cadmium toxicity in DOI

Ahmad P., Ahanger M. A., Alyemeni M. N., Wijaya L., Alam P. (2018). Exogenous application of nitric oxide modulates osmolyte metabolism, antioxidants, enzymes of ascorbate-glutathione cycle and promotes growth under cadmium stress in tomato. PubMed DOI

Ali B., Tao Q. J., Zhou Y. F., Mwamba T. M., Rafiq M. T., Xu L., et al. (2013). 5-Aminolevolinic acid mitigates the cadmium-induced changes in PubMed DOI

Anjum S. A., Tanveer M., Hussain S., Ashraf U., Khan I., Wang L. (2017). Alteration in growth, leaf gas exchange, and photosynthetic pigments of maize plants under combined cadmium and arsenic stress. DOI

Chaoui A., El Ferjani E. (2005). Effects of cadmium and copper on antioxidant capacities, lignification and auxin degradation in leaves of pea ( PubMed DOI

Dad F. P., Khan W.-D., Tanveer M., Ramzani P. M., Shaukat R., Muktadir A. (2021). Influence of iron-enriched biochar on Cd sorption, its ionic concentration and redox regulation of radish under cadmium toxicity. DOI

Dionisio-Sese M. L., Tobita S. (1998). Antioxidant responses of rice seedlings to salinity stress. DOI

Fahad S., Hussain S., Saud S., Hassan S., Tanveer M., Ihsan M. Z., et al. (2016). A combined application of biochar and phosphorus alleviates heat-induced adversities on physiological, agronomical and quality attributes of rice. PubMed DOI

Feng L., Yan H., Dai C., Xu W., Gu F., Zhang F., et al. (2020). The systematic exploration of cadmium-accumulation characteristics of maize kernel in acidic soil with different pollution levels in China. PubMed DOI

Ge L., Cang L., Ata-Ul-Karim S. T., Yang J., Zhou D. (2019). Effects of various warming patterns on Cd transfer in soil-rice systems under Free Air Temperature Increase (FATI) conditions. PubMed DOI

Haider F. U., Coulter J. A., Cheema S. A., Farooq M., Wu J., Zhang R., et al. (2021). Co-application of biochar and microorganisms improves soybean performance and remediate cadmium-contaminated soil. PubMed DOI

Heath R. L., Packer L. (1968). Photoperoxidation in isolated chloroplasts. I. kinetics and stoichiometry of fatty acid peroxidation. PubMed DOI

Kamnev A. A., Van Der Lelie D. (2000). Chemical and biological parameters as tools to evaluate and improve heavy metal phytoremediation. PubMed DOI

Khanna K., Jamwal V. L., Gandhi S. G., Ohri P., Bhardwaj R. (2019a). Metal resistant PGPR lowered Cd uptake and expression of metal transporter genes with improved growth and photosynthetic pigments in PubMed DOI PMC

Khanna K., Jamwal V. L., Sharma A., Gandhi S. G., Ohri P., Bhardwaj R., et al. (2019b). Supplementation with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) alleviates cadmium toxicity in PubMed DOI

Khanna K., Sharma A., Ohri P., Bhardwaj R., Abd Allah E. F., Hashem A., et al. (2019c). Impact of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in the orchestration of PubMed DOI PMC

Kollárová K., Kusá Z., Vatehová-Vivodová Z., Lišková D. (2019). The response of maize protoplasts to cadmium stress mitigated by silicon. PubMed DOI

Liu L., Li J., Yue F., Yan X., Wang F., Bloszies S., et al. (2018). Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation and biochar amendment on maize growth, cadmium uptake and soil cadmium speciation in Cd-contaminated soil. PubMed DOI

Perveen A., Wahid A., Mahmood S., Hussain I., Rasheed R. (2015). Possible mechanism of medium-supplemented thiourea in improving growth, gas exchange, and photosynthetic pigments in cadmium-stressed maize ( DOI

Rafique M., Ortas I., Rizwan M., Sultan T., Chaudhary H. J., Işik M., et al. (2019). Effects of PubMed DOI

Retamal-Salgado J., Hirzel J., Walter I., Matus I. (2017). Bioabsorption and bioaccumulation of cadmium in the straw and grain of maize ( PubMed DOI PMC

Ryan P. R., Delhaize E., Jones D. L. (2001). Function and mechanism of organic anion exudation from plant RootS. PubMed DOI

Sfaxi-Bousbih A., Chaoui A., El Ferjani E. (2010). Cadmium impairs mineral and carbohydrate mobilization during the germination of bean seeds. PubMed DOI

Sharma S. S., Dietz K. J. (2009). The relationship between metal toxicity and cellular redox imbalance. PubMed DOI

Srivastava A. K., Sablok G., Hackenberg M., Deshpande U., Suprasanna P. (2017). Thiourea priming enhances salt tolerance through co-ordinated regulation of microRNAs and hormones in Brassica juncea. PubMed DOI PMC

Tanveer M., Shabala S. (2022). Entangling the interaction between essential and nonessential nutrients: implications for global food security. DOI

Virk A. L., Kan Z. R., Liu B. Y., Qi J. Y., He C., Liu Q. Y., et al. (2020). Impact of biochar water extract addition on soil organic carbon mineralization and C fractions in different tillage systems. DOI

Wang K., Zhou Q., Yan T., Xu S., Zhao L., Wang W., et al. (2020). Characterization of grain cadmium concentration in indica hybrid rice. DOI

Wang P., Chen H. P., Kopittke P. M., Zhao F. J. (2019). Cadmium contamination in agricultural soils of China and the impact on food safety. PubMed DOI

Wu D. Z., Sato K., Ma J. F. (2015). Genome-wide association mapping of cadmium accumulation in different organs of barley. PubMed DOI

Xu X., Liu C., Zhao X., Li R., Deng W. (2014). Involvement of an antioxidant defense system in the adaptive response to cadmium in maize seedlings ( PubMed DOI

Younis U., Malik S. A., Rizwan M., Qayyum M. F., Ok Y. S., Shah M. H. R., et al. (2016). Biochar enhances the cadmium tolerance in spinach ( PubMed DOI

Zhang F., Zhang H., Wang G., Xu L., Shen Z. (2009). Cadmium-induced accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the leaf apoplast of PubMed DOI

Zhang K., Wang G., Bao M., Wang L., Xie X. (2019). Exogenous application of ascorbic acid mitigates cadmium toxicity and uptake in Maize ( PubMed DOI

Zhao F. J. (2020). Strategies to manage the risk of heavy metal(loid) contamination in agricultural soils. DOI

Zhou X., Qiao M., Su J.-Q., Wang Y., Cao Z.-H., Cheng W.-D., et al. (2019). Turning pig manure into biochar can effectively mitigate antibiotic resistance genes as organic fertilizer. PubMed DOI

Zhu Q., Li X., Ge R.-S. (2020). Toxicological effects of cadmium on mammalian testis. PubMed DOI PMC

Influence of biochar and microorganism co-application on stabilization of cadmium (Cd) and improved maize growth in Cd-contaminated soil

Methyl Jasmonate Alleviated the Adverse Effects of Cadmium Stress in Pea (Pisum sativum L.): A Nexus of Photosystem II Activity and Dynamics of Redox Balance