Abstract
The current work was performed to know the impact of cadmium (Cd) toxicity on two different genotypes ofchickpea (Cicer arietinumL.) namely Pusa-BG1053 and Pusa-BG372. Cadmium was applied in the form of cad-mium chloride (CdCl2), in varying levels, 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg Cd kg-1soil. Plant growth as well as physio-logical attributes were decreased with increasing concentration of Cd. Both genotypes showed the maximum andsignificant reduction at the maximum dose of Cd (100 mg Cd kg-1soil). Results of this study proved that thegenotype Pusa-BG1053 was more tolerant and showed a lower decline in growth, photosynthetic and biochemicalattributes than Pusa-BG372. This later genotype showed the maximum reduction and was sensitive to Cd stress.A better activity of antioxidants protected Pusa-BG1053 from Cd toxicity; on the other hand, the activity of anti-oxidants was much lower in Pusa-BG372. Scanning electron microscopic studies showed differences in both gen-otypes. In Pusa-BG1053, stomatal quantity was higher and stomata were slightly close to the characteristic guardcells. In Pusa-BG372 stomata were lower, slightly open and with highly affected guard cells. Root cell mortalitydue to the harsh effects of Cd appeared to be more evident in Pusa-BG372 than Pusa-BG1053, which was visible undera confocal microscope. As a result of this study, Pusa-BG1053 was a more tolerant genotype, and exhibited a minimumreduction in terms of all studied parameters than Pusa-BG372, which was a sensitive genotype to Cd toxicity