The study of the effects of exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) addition on cadmium (Cd) accumulation of two ecotypes (mining and farmland) of Solanum photeinocarpum was operated through a pot experiment. The results showed that the biomass and chlorophyll content of the two ecotypes of S. photeinocarpum increased with increasing ABA concentration. Applying exogenous ABA increased Cd content in the two ecotypes of S. photeinocarpum. The maximum Cd contents in shoots of the two ecotypes of S. photeinocarpum were obtained at 20 μmol/L ABA; shoot Cd contents respectively for the mining and farmland ecotypes were 33.92 and 24.71% higher than those for the control. Applying exogenous ABA also increased Cd extraction by the two ecotypes of S. photeinocarpum, and the highest Cd extraction was obtained at 20 μmol/L ABA with 569.42 μg/plant in shoots of the mining ecotype and 520.51 μg/plant in shoots of the farmland ecotype respectively. Therefore, exogenous ABA can be used for enhancing the Cd extraction ability of S. photeinocarpum, and 20 μmol/L ABA was the optimal dose.
Keywords: ABA; Cadmium; Ecotype; Hyperaccumulator; Phytoremediation; Solanum photeinocarpum.