Differential responses of indole-3-acetic acid on Trigonella seedlings exposed to cadmium stress: Impact on nitrate and ammonium assimilating enzymes

Abstract: Cadmium (Cd) is a hazardous environmental pollutant because of its high solubility and mobility in soil, which alters various physiological processes and reduces plant productivity. Thus, there is a need to develop the techniques to counteract the adverse effects of heavy metals on medicinally important Trigonella foenum-graecum L., a widely used vegetable all over the world. Considering the above point, the present work was conducted to investigate whether exogenous application of indole-3-acetic acid [low (IAAL, 10 µM), middle (IAAM, 50 µM) and high (IAAH,100 µM)] can alleviate cadmium (Cd1, 3 mg Cd kg-1 and Cd2, 9 mg Cd kg-1) induced damaging effect in Trigonella seedlings. Cadmium at both doses declined the growth, total chlorophyll, net photosynthesis, nitrate and nitrite contents and activity of nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase. Exogenous application of IAA at IAAL and IAAM doses attenuated the Cd-induced decline in growth and enzymes of nitrogen metabolism, and these effects were more pronounced in IAAL treated seedlings. However, the IAAH dose resulted in a significant decrease in the above parameters compared to the control. Overall results suggest that IAA behaved differentially under Cd stress in Trigonella seedlings and produced alleviating effect at a low dose, i.e., 10 µM. Keywords: Cadmium, indole-3-acetic acid, nitrogen metabolism, Trigonella seedlings. Title: Differential responses of indole-3-acetic acid on Trigonella seedlings exposed to cadmium stress: Impact on nitrate and ammonium assimilating enzymes Author: Sumit Kumar Singh, Mohd Soban Ali, Asif Hussain Hajam, Sheo Mohan Prasad, Gausiya Bashri International Journal of Recent Research in Physics and Chemical Sciences (IJRRPCS) ISSN 2350-1030 Vol. 13, Issue 1, April 2026 - September 2026 Page No: 8-19 Paper Publications Website: www.paperpublications.org Published Date: 27-July-2026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21621895 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.paperpublications.org/upload/book/Differential%20responses%20of%20indole-3-acetic-27072026-2.pdf