Effects of Exogenous Glycinebetaine and Trehalose on Cadmium Accumulation and Biological Responses of an Aquatic Plant (Lemna gibba L.)

This study aimed to investigate and compare the effects of exogenous glycinebetaine (GB) and trehalose (TR) on the biological responses of duckweed (Lemna gibba L.) against cadmium (Cd) accumulation. Duckweed samples were exposed to 0.5, 1, and 3 mM of Cd for 6 days in the presence and absence of GB (0.5, 1, 2, and 5 mM) or TR (0.5, 1, 2, and 5 mM). The accumulation of Cd, GB, and TR were investigated, and their influence on the rates of lipid peroxidation, photosynthetic activity, proline content and enzymatic antioxidant performance was examined. Two-way ANOVA showed that exposure to Cd and/or GB or TR caused an increase in Cd accumulation concentration dependently. TR had significant effects on Cd accumulation. The application of 0.5 mM TR increased Cd accumulation, whereas 5 mM decreased Cd accumulation. However, Cd accumulation was not significantly affected by the presence of GB. Cd concentration alone or in combination with GB or TR had a significant effect on lipid peroxidation, photosynthetic activity, proline content, and antioxidant enzyme activities. In addition, statistically significant GB–Cd and TR–Cd interactions were observed. We conclude that both GB and TR play protective roles against Cd stress in aquatic plants. The use of a low level of TR (i.e., 0.5 mM) may be more useful than GB in phytoremediation studies.