Can heavy metals (chromium and zinc) influence the reestablishing of post-grafting plants?

• Grant number: 18/13973-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal researcher: Daniel Baron
• Grantee: Lucas Giovani Pastore Bernardi
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências da Natureza (CCN). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Campus de Lagoa do Sino. Buri , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/26463-0 - Effect of abiotic stresses (high temperature, water stress and salinity) on grafted pepper plants, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The heavy metals Chrom and Zinc, essential and not essential, respectively, can be found in natural areas or as contaminants in growing areas and can result in direct losses in the food production and deleterious effects on vegetative propagation. The cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a vegetable crop cultivated using grafting technique, and such technique provides to the crop characteristics such as stress tolerance to heavy metals. Furthermore, this plant is a vegetable extensively investigated in reports of physiological effects caused by abiotic factors, which enables this species as a 'model-plant' in scientific studies. We will test the hypothesis that the supply of heavy metals will impair the growth of the grafted plant. Based on this hypothesis, our objective is to evaluate the reestablishment of the post-grafting plant under the availability of essential and non-essential heavy metals. The cucumber will be grafted on pumpkin plants (Cucurbita moschata L.) and will be obtained data growth, accumulation of nutrients and concentration of chlorophyll and carotenoids. The experimental design will be in randomized blocks with data submitted to the homogeneity test between the variances and when attending the statistical assumptions (homoscedasticity among the variances), the same will be analyzed statistically through analysis of variance (ANOVA), and, when necessary, its mean values will be compared by the Tukey test, at a significance level of 05% (p <0.05).