Photosynthesis and growth responses of pea Pisum sativum L. underheavy metals stress

The present work aimed to study the physiological e ects of cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) in pea (Pisum sativum). Pea plants wereexposed to increasing doses of cadmium chloride (CdCl2) and copper chloride (CuCl2) for 20 d. The examined parameters, namely rootand shoot lengths, the concentration of photosynthetic pigments and the rate of photosynthesis were a ected by the treatments especiallywith high metals concentrations. The analysis of heavy metals accumulation shows that leaves significantly accumulate cadmium forall the tested concentrations. However, copper was significantly accumulated only with the highest tested dose. This may explain thehigher inhibitory e ects of cadmium on photosynthesis and growth in pea plants. These results are valuable for understanding thebiological consequences of heavy metals contamination particularly in soils devoted to organic agriculture.