SHORT COMMUNICATION
Impact of Cadmium and Zinc on the Growth
of White Clover (Trifolium repens L.)
Shoots and Roots
Vida Stravinskienė1, Milda Račaitė2
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1Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University,
Vileikos 8, LT-44404 Kaunas, Lithuania
2Environmental Protection Agency, Division of Control Organization and Pollution Prevention Implementation,
Lithuanian Ministry of Environment, A. Juozapavičiaus 9, LT-09311 Vilnius, Lithuania
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2014;23(4):1355-1359
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of different concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and zinc
(Zn) on the growth of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) shoots and roots in the first stages of its life. An
inhibitory effect of all investigated concentrations of Cd on the growth of shoots and roots was ascertained. A
significant (p <0.05) inhibitory effect on the growth of shoots and roots was determined at 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mM
concentrations of Cd. Low (0.025 mM and 0.05 mM) concentrations of the Zn cause growth promotion of
shoots and roots. Higher (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.2 mM) concentrations of Zn led to a significant (p<0.05) inhibitory
effect on the growth of shoots and roots. Low concentrations (0.025 and 0.05 mM) of Zn enhanced root
growth by 1.3% and 6.2%, while higher (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 1.2 mM) concentrations of this metal led to root
growth inhibition by 27.7%, 60.0%, 77.6%, and 86.3%, respectively. The results of linear regression analysis
confirm the inhibitory impact of different concentrations of Cd and Zn on white clover growth, and the inhibition
increases with higher concentration.