Hormesis, which describes the stimulatory effect of low doses of toxic substances on growth, is a well-known phenomenon in the plant and animal kingdoms. However, the mechanisms that are involved in this phenomenon are still poorly understood. We performed preliminary studies on corn coleoptile sections, which showed a positive correlation between the stimulation of growth by Cd or Pb and an increase in the auxin and H2O2 content in the coleoptile sections. Subsequently, we grew corn seedlings in hydroponic culture and tested a wide range of Cd or Pb concentrations in order to determine hormetic growth stimulation. In these seedlings the gas exchange and the chlorophyll a fluorescence, as well as the content of chlorophyll, flavonol, auxin and hydrogen peroxide, were measured. We found that during the hormetic stimulation of growth, the response of the photosynthetic apparatus to Cd and Pb differed significantly. While the application of Cd mostly caused a decrease in various photosynthetic parameters, the application of Pb stimulated some of them. Nevertheless, we discovered that the common features of the hormetic stimulation of shoot growth by heavy metals are an increase in the auxin and flavonol content and the maintenance of hydrogen peroxide at the same level as the control plants.
Keywords: cadmium; chlorophyll a fluorescence; growth; hormesis; lead; photosynthesis.