Abstract
The problem of obtaining safe foodstuff has remained relevant for a very long time. Long period of soil self-purification and the expensiveness of its artificial treatment forced mankind to look for new ways to solve problems related to soil pollution with heavy metals. The most perspective direction in this field is the identification of plant facilities, characterized by minimal accumulation of heavy metals. The purpose of our research is to identify wheat germplasm, resistant to heavy metals (zinc, cadmium) primarily in Eastern Kazakhstan, and discover donors for selection for metal resistance and perspective wheat forms, intended to implement into production. The research subject is various genotypes of spring wheat from the collection of Eastern Kazakhstan Agricultural Scientific Research Institute. The experiments were held in condition of modeling environmental pollution on 10-day-old sprouts of different wheat genotypes, grown on nutrient mixture, containing CaSO4 0.1mm and Cd ions at a concentration of 40 mg/L (as CdSO4 salt) or Zn at a concentration of 400 mg/L (as salt ZnSO4). Since a direct negative impact of heavy metals on plants is displayed in inhibiting of their growth and development (root and sprout growth weakening), indicators of wheat genotypes growth processes were examined during the experiment and Wilkins coefficient was defined. The study revealed sensitive and metal resistant samples. Studies of membrane permeability for electrolytes interms of environmental pollution by cadmium and zinc, have led to the conclusion that plant resistance can generally be caused by cell membranes’ resistance to the action of the stressor. Membrane permeability for electrolytes in the most resistant wheat variety Altai changed less comparing to a more sensitive variety of spring wheat Erythrospermum-606 during the action of both cadmium and zinc. This fact proves that the overall resistance of plants may be due to stability of cell membrane to the action of the stressor.