Fomes fomentarius Extract Decrease Negative Effects of Cadmium Ions at the Early Stages of Barley Development

Cadmium ions are toxic to living organisms and cause oxidative stress. Looking for anti-toxicants with antioxidant, antiradical and chelating activity is promising therefore. Fomes fomentarius is one of the most common wood-destroying fungi in Eurasia; though its chemical composition and biological effects were not studied sufficiently.

This work is aimed to study separate and joint effects of fungal extracts and Cd²⁺ (250 μM) on barley seedlings. Cd²⁺ caused 95% decrease in root length compared to control (water) and fungi extract (2 mg / ml) - 25%. Twice diluted extract stimulated root growth by 12%. The changes in shoot length were not so prominent: 44% decrease in the case of Cd²⁺ and 36% in fungi extract (2 mg / ml), and 20% stimulation at lower extract concentration.

The joint action of Cd²⁺ and extracts (1 mg / ml) has shown that the root length was 30% of control, which is 6 times higher than in the case of Cd2⁺. The shoot length was one third higher compared to Cd²⁺ and reached 71% of the control.

Thus, addition of tinder fungus extract (1 mg / ml) reduced the negative effect of Cd²⁺, but did not completely block it. Perhaps this effect was associated with the high content of phenolic compounds in the extract (3.5 μg / ml) and their antioxidant activity. The ABTS* test showed that extract inhibited the formation of radicals by 51%, which is comparable to standard antioxidant rutin. We suggest that Fomes fomentarius extract could be tested further as a bio-based product, reducing toxic effect of heavy metals.