Relationship between different physiological processes of Tomato seedlings exposed to acid mine water Uncovered using correlation analysis

Udoka Vitus Ogugua; Sheku Alfred Kanu; Khayalethu Ntushelo

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18975

Relationship between different physiological processes of Tomato seedlings exposed to acid mine water Uncovered using correlation analysis

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 9;9(8):e18975. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18975. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Udoka Vitus Ogugua¹, Sheku Alfred Kanu^{1

2}, Khayalethu Ntushelo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida, 1710, South Africa.
² Department of Crop Science, Njala University, Njala, Sierra Leone.

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the correlation between growth response, phytoaccumulation factor of different tissues, and elemental composition in tomato seedlings exposed to acid mine water (AMW). In pairwise correlation determinations values of plant height, stem diameter, seed germination indices (radicle length, final germination percentage (FGP), emergency rate index (ERI), vigour index (VI), germination percentage (G%) and germination rate index (GRI)) and the elemental compositions (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn) in the different plant tissues, root (root accumulation factor = RAF), stem (stem translocation factor = STF) and leaves (leaf translocation factor = LTF) were selected for the relationship determinations. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated and revealed the relationships between the paired parameters. The study concluded that the strongly correlated physiological parameters were jointly co-ordinated in tomato seedlings exposed to AMW.

Keywords: Correlation; Germination indices; Heavy metals; Physiological parameters; Tomato.