The search for new plant growth regulators that have an adaptogenic and protective effect, for example, in polluted with heavy metals environment, is of great interest. Under the requirements for the environmental friendliness, natural products can be considered as prospective sources of such biologically active substances, for example, the fruiting bodies of xylotrophic fungi, which are widespread in the forests of Russia. In this work the joint and separate effects of cadmium ions and extracts from four species of xylotrophic basidiomycetes – Inonotus obliquus, Fomes fomentarius, Fomitopsis pinicola, and Ganoderma applanatum – on the mitotic index and frequency of mitotic aberrations were studied in barley plants. The Hordeum-test showed that an increase in the concentration of cadmium ions in the growth medium in the range from 100 to 2000 μM caused an increase in the percentage of chromosome aberrations, while the mitotic index in experimental plants decreased by no more than 10% in the case of 100 and 200 μM Cd2+ compared with the control, and at high concentrations, its fall was 15-46%. The addition of tinder fungi extracts to the medium without addition of cadmium ions did not lead to the chromosomal aberrations in cells, and mitotic indices remained at the control level, except for the chaga extract, which caused an inhibitory effect on the mitotic activity in barley root cells. The combined use of extracts of xylotrophic basidiomycetes and cadmium ions reduced the cytotoxicity of the latter: the use of extracts of all four fungal species prevented chromosomal aberrations. The extracts of chaga and G. applanatum had the greatest protective effect on the ability of meristem cells to divide. Thus, these two species can be considered as promising natural sources for biopreparations with a protective effect perspective for agriculture usage.
Byzova, M. A., Ermoshin, A. A., & Kiseleva, I. S. (2022). Polypore fungus extracts reduce cytotoxicity of cadmium ions in the Hordeum test. Biomics, 14(4), 310-314. doi:10.31301/2221-6197.bmcs.2022-30