Protective roles of nitric oxide on seed germination and seedling growth of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under cadmium stress.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a bioactive molecule in plants which mediates a variety of physiological processes and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses including heavy metals. In the present study, the effects of exogenous NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on rice seed germination and seedlings growth were investigated under Cd stress and a possible mechanism was postulated. The results indicated that 100μM Cd significantly decreased rice seed germination index, vigor index, root and shoot lengths as well as fresh weight compared to control. Exogenous SNP dose-dependently attenuated the inhibition of rice seed germination and thereafter seedling growth caused by Cd. The promoting effect was most pronounced at 30μM SNP. Cd exposure caused oxidative stress by elevating hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in root and shoot of rice seedlings. 30μM SNP counteracted partly Cd toxicity by reducing the H2O2 and MDA contents of Cd-exposed seedlings. Meanwhile, application of SNP markedly stimulated the activities of superoxide dismutases (SOD), ascorbate peroxidases (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (POD) and catalases (CAT) compared with Cd treatment alone, thereby indicating the enhancement of the antioxidative capacity in the root and shoot under Cd stress. In addition, addition of 30μM SNP increased accumulation of proline in both root and shoot. The Cd accumulation in seedlings was significant reduced by SNP, implicating that the protective role of SNP was responsible for preventing Cd accumulation. However, the effects of SNP were reverted by addition of cPTIO, a NO scavenger, suggesting the protective roles of SNP might be related to the induction of NO. Furthermore, K3Fe(CN)6 and [Formula: see text] / [Formula: see text] had no similar roles as SNP. Based on these results, it can be concluded that SNP exerted an advantageous effect on alleviating the inhibitory effect of Cd on rice seed germination and seedling growth, which might interact with NO.