Effect of heavy metals on the growth of tissue cultures (II).

The effect of toxic concentrations of three heavy metal compounds on the growth of the secondary callus tissue of Nicotiana tabacum L. and Ruta graveolens L. was studied. The metal compounds examined were ZnSO4, NiSO4, CuSO4. The metal compounds used were placed in Murashige, Skoog (1962) and White (1943) culture medium at 10(-6) and 10(-4) M concentration, respectively, before autoclaving. The culture media containing macro- and microelements and vitamins were completed with carbon source and regulators (IAA, GA, kinetin for Nicotiana and IAA, 2, 4-D for Ruta). The cultures were kept for 4 weeks at 25 (+2) degrees C under 16/8 n light/dark conditions. The value of pH was 5.6 before the autoclave treatment. The increase in fresh weight of the secondary callus tissue was inhibited by the metal compounds applied with both plant species (to 75-87% by zinc, 7-97% by nickel, 5-98% by copper with tobacco; to 47-69% by zinc, 5-88% by nickel, 57-90% by copper with rue). The cell number and dry weight per g of callus tissue partly increased, partly decreased compared to the control in response to the heavy metal treatment. The growth values obtained with various concentrations of the heavy metals were different in the two plant species due to differences in metabolism and organization potential between them.