Ionic liquids (ILs) constitute a huge group of substances that are increasingly common in the commercial use. This situation may lead to the contamination of the soil environment which being the basic of plants vegetation. This paper presents the effect of four ILs with I- anion on the growth and development of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare) and common radish (Raphanus sativus L. subvar. radicula Pers) and changes in metabolism of the plants. Seedlings of spring barley and common radish cultivated on soil with increasing ILs concentration exhibited typical phytotoxicity symptoms. A considerable reduction of shoot and root lengths, decrease of fresh weight (FW) and increase of dry weight (DW) occurred in both test plants. Ionic liquids concentration increase in soil was correlated with the decrease of concentrations of all photosynthetic pigments in the plants. The observed increase of malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and changes in the H2O2 level indicated presence of oxidative stress in spring barley and common radish, which usually led to the increase of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activity. The most reliable biomarker of oxidative stress was chlorophyll level and changes in POD activity.
Keywords: Antioxidant enzyme activity; Growth inhibition; Ionic liquids; Oxidative stress; Photosynthetic pigments; Terrestrial plants.
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