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Abstract

Heavy metal contamination is one of the major factors that pose a significant threat to agricultural productivity. Hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) is the most carcinogenic and phytotoxic form of heavy metals, which is produced through both anthropogenic activities and natural events. Chromium affects the growth of crops through the inhibition of seed germination and early seedling growth due to reduced water absorption, excessive abscisic acid synthesis, and high accumulation of ROS. The five mung beans verities, namely, AZRI Mung-2018, AZRI Mung-2021, Jambo-Mung, TM-1611, and TM-1824, provided by the Arid Zone Research Institute, Bhakkar, Pakistan, which are dominantly grown in the Thal Desert. In the current study, an experiment was conducted under controlled laboratory conditions to investigate the response of five mung bean varieties, and examine the most tolerant cultivar under Cr stress environment using multivariate statistics. Results have shown that the germination and early seedling growth of the mung bean varieties decreased with increasing concentration of Cr, which is in agreement with the previous studies. Among all mung beans cultivars, TM-1824 showed excellent germination-related traits with high susceptibility in the initial stages of seedling development. In contrast, TM-1611 and AZRI Mung-2021 showed well-balanced tolerance in both germination and growth stages, making these two genotypes the most promising for (Cr VI) affected areas. Future studies should focus on the evaluation of these genotypes in field conditions, while considering the possibility of using nanotechnological approaches such as nanopriming and nanoparticle fertilization to further improve Cr tolerance in these genotypes.

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