Hypochlorite is a chemical compund composed of Cholrine and Oxygen [ClO(3-)].The
ID: 214486 • Letter: H
Question
Hypochlorite is a chemical compund composed of Cholrine and Oxygen [ClO(3-)].The human immune system generates minute quantities of hypochlorite during the destruction of pathogens. Hypochlorite acts as an Oxidizing Agent. It also induces salinity in microorganisms and plants. Salinity reduces early onset of plants by affecting seed germination. The two factors delaying seed germination are : (define them, and how the sodium hypochlorite will affect the seed growth and germination)
1) Osmotic Shock
2) Ion Toxicity
Explanation / Answer
Answer 1) Osmotic shock: Osmotic shock also known as osmotic stress is a sudden change in the solute concentration around a cell causing a rapid change in the movement of water across its cell membrane.
Under conditions of high concentrations of either salts, substrates or any solute in the supernatant water is drawn out of the cells through osmosis. This also inhibits the transport of substrates and cofactors into the cell thus “shocking” the cell. Consequently, at low concentrations of solutes, water enters the cell in large amounts causing it to swell and either burst or undergo apoptosis.
Seedlings are the most important stage in the life cycle of plants and germination which determines when and where seedling growth begin.
There are contradictory reports in the literature as to the relative sensitivity of germination and seedling growth to salt stress.
According to Munns, salt stress decreases growth in most plants, including halophytes. Salt stress affects many physiological aspects of plant growth. Shoot growth and dry matter are reduced by salinity, root: shoot ratio is increased. Miquel et al. documented that respiration decreases under water stress condition, though decrease in respiration is much less than photosynthesis. It was also proven that salt stress increases the activity of an alterative pathway along with the cytochrome pathway. Salinity can affect germination of seeds either by creating osmotic potential which prevent water uptake, or by toxic effects of ions on embryo viability.
2) Ion toxicity: Metal toxicity or metal poisoning is the toxic effect of certain metals in certain forms and doses on life. Some metals are toxic when they form poisonous soluble compounds. Certain metals have no biological role, i.e. they are not essential minerals orthey are toxic when in a certain form. In the case of lead, any measurable amount may have negative health effects. Often heavy metals are thought as synonymous, but lighter metals may also be toxic in certain circumstances, such as beryllium and lithium. Not all heavy metals are particularly toxic, and some are essential, such as iron. The definition may also include trace elements when in abnormally high doses may be toxic. An option for treatment of metal poisoning may be chelation therapy, a technique which involves the administration of chelation agents to remove metals from the body.
The most common toxicity is from chloride in the irrigation water. Chloride is not adsorbed or held back by soils, therefore it moves readily with the soil-water and is taken up by the crop then moves in the transpiration stream, and accumulates in the leaves. If the chloride concentration in the leaves exceeds the tolerance of the crop, injury symptoms develop such as leaf burn or drying of leaf tissue. Normally, plant injury occurs first at the leaf tips (which is common for chloride toxicity), and progresses from the tip back along the edges as severity increases. Excessive necrosis (dead tissue) is often accompanied by early leaf drop or defoliation. With sensitive crops, these symptoms occur when leaves accumulate from 0.3 to 1.0 percent chloride on a dry weight basis, but sensitivity varies among these crops. Many tree crops, for example, begin to show injury above 0.3 percent chloride (dry weight).
Chemical analysis of plant tissue is commonly used to confirm a chloride toxicity. Leaf blades are most often used, but the petioles of some crops (grapes) are sometimes used rather than leaves. For irrigated areas, the chloride uptake depends not only on the water quality but also on the soil chloride, controlled by the amount of leaching that has taken place and the ability of the crop to exclude chloride. Crop tolerances to chloride are not nearly so well documented as crop tolerances to salinity.
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