Mercuric chloride induced membrane damage in tomato cultured cells

Abstract

Suspension cultures of tomato cells were used to study the membrane injury by the toxic concentration of mercuric chloride. Assessment of electrolyte leakage, UV-absorbance of the tissue leachates, relative leakage ratio, injury index, membrane lipid peroxidation, lipoxygenase activity, α- amino nitrogen and total soluble carbohydrate contents showed the extent of membrane damage as a function of the increasing concentration of mercuric chloride. It is suggested that the selected parameters can be used as qualitative tests for determination of stress-induced membrane damage.