Abstract
Cassia italica Mill is an important medicinal plant within the family Fabaceae. Pot experiment was conducted to evaluate cadmium stress induced changes in physiological and biochemical attributes in C. italica with and without arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Cadmium stressed plant showed reduced chlorophyll pigment and protein content while AMF inoculation enhanced the chlorophyll and protein content considerably. AMF also ameliorated the cadmium stress induced reduction in total chlorophyll and protein contents by 19.30% and 38.29%, respectively. Cadmium stress enhanced lipid peroxidation while AMF inoculation reduced lipid peroxidation considerably. Increase in proline and phenol content was observed due to cadmium stress and AMF inoculation caused a further increase in proline and phenol content ensuring better growth under stressed conditions. AMF alone also enhanced proline and phenol content. Activity of antioxidant enzymes enhanced under cadmium treatment and AMF inoculation further enhanced their activity thereby strengthening the antioxidant system. Enhanced activities of antioxidants and increased accumulation of osmolytes help plants to avoid damaging impact of oxidative damage. The research has shown that AMF inoculation mitigated the negative impact of stress by reducing the lipid peroxidation and enhancing the antioxidant activity. The present study strongly supports employing AMF as the biological mean for enhancing the cadmium stress tolerance of C. italica.