| Popis: |
Cadmium ions are toxic to living organisms and cause oxidative stress. Current research is focused on the search of new antitoxicants with antioxidant, antiradical, and chelating activity. Fomes fomentarius is one of the most common wood-destroying fungi in Eurasia; however, its chemical composition and biological effects have not been studied sufficiently. This work aimed to study separate and joint effects of fungal extracts and Cd2+ ions (250 μM) on barley growth. Cd2+ caused a 95% decrease in root length compared to control (water). Fungal extract (2 mg/mL) decreased it by 25%. Diluted extract (1 mg/mL) stimulated root growth by 12%. The shoot length in the case of Cd2+ decreased by 44% compared to control and by 36% in the case of extract (2 mg/mL). At lower extract concentration the length of shoots increased by 20% compared to water. Under the joint action of Cd2+ and extract (1 mg/mL) the root length reached 30% of control, which is six times higher than in the case of Cd2+. The shoot length was also higher compared to Cd2+ and reached 71% of the control. Thus, the addition of tinder fungus extract (1 mg/mL) reduced the negative effect of Cd2+ but did not completely block it. We suppose that this effect was associated with the high content of phenolic compounds in the extract (3.5 μg/mL) and their antioxidant activity. The ABTS* test showed that fungal extract inhibited the formation of radicals by 51%, which is comparable to standard antioxidant rutin. We suggested that Fomes fomentarius extract could be tested further as a bio-based product, reducing the toxic effects of heavy metals. |
