Nickel tolerance and phytoremediation potential of quinoa are modulated under salinity: multivariate comparison of physiological and biochemical attributes.

Soils salinization along with heavy metals contamination is among the serious environmental menaces. The present experiment was conducted to study the combined influence of salinity and nickel (Ni) on growth and physiological attributes of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.). Thirty-day-old healthy and uniform seedlings of quinoa genotype A7 were exposed to different concentrations of Ni (0, 100, 200, 400 µM), NaCl (0, 150, 300 mM) and their combinations for three weeks. Results indicated that plant growth, pigments and stomatal conductance decreased with increasing Ni concentrations in nutrient solution. Combining lower level of salt (150 mM NaCl) with Ni resulted in improvement in growth and physiological attributes of quinoa. However, the combined application of higher level of salt (300 mM NaCl) with Ni was more detrimental for plant growth and caused more oxidative stress (H2O2 and TBARS) than the alone treatments. The oxidative stress was mitigated by 5.5-fold, 5-fold and 15-fold increase in the activities of SOD, CAT and APX, respectively. The concentration of Na was increased, while K and Ni decreased under the combined treatment of Ni and salinity. Multivariate analysis revealed that a moderate level of salinity had positive effects on growth and Ni phytoremediation potential of quinoa. The higher tolerance index, bioconcentration factor and lower translocation factor depicted that quinoa genotype A7 can be cultivated for phytostabilization of Ni under salinity stress. It was concluded that NaCl salinity level of 150 mM is promising for increasing growth of quinoa on Ni contaminated soils.