Changes in plant growth and protein content of some legume crops grown on uranium mill tailings

Uranium (U) tolerance potential of locally cultivated six legume crop species namely groundnut, greengram, bengalgram, redgram, cowpea and horsegram grown on U mill tailings was assessed to understand the impact of uranium on plant germination. Percent germination of seeds, plant growth parameters and protein profiles were analyzed using biometry and Electrophoresis methods. Plants were grown on U mill tailings for 30 days under controlled environmental conditions before the analysis. The U mill tailings showed negative impact on morphological parameters such as percent germination of seeds, plant growth, etc. in all the six legume plants grown on U mill tailings. During the study, greengram, showed best tolerance, redgram showed moderate to leranceand horsegram showed least tolerance under U stress among the six legume crop species studied. Protein profiles of the three legume species (greengram, redgram and horsegram) grown on U mill tailings were studied by SDS-PAGE.