Strigolactone GR24 mitigates cadmium stress and reduces cadmium uptake in maize seedlings

Abstract To reduce the cadmium (Cd) uptake in crops and mitigate the stress caused by Cd, this study investigated the effects of strigolactone GR24 (1 μmol/L) on the growth and Cd accumulation of maize seedlings under Cd stress (5 mg/L). Cd treatment decreased the plant height, root length, biomass, photosynthetic pigment content, and photosynthetic gas exchange parameters, while increasing the antioxidant enzyme activities of maize seedlings, indicating that Cd induced stress in plants. Cd + GR24 treatment improved the root length, biomass, photosynthetic pigment content, and photosynthetic gas exchange parameters of maize seedlings. Compared with Cd treatment, Cd + GR24 treatment increased the root and shoot biomass by 12.35% and 23.30%, respectively. Additionally, Cd + GR24 treatment reduced the antioxidant enzyme activity, Cd content, and translocation factor of maize seedlings. Compared with Cd treatment, Cd + GR24 treatment decreased the Cd content in roots and shoots by 4.23% and 21.62%, respectively. Therefore, GR24 can alleviate Cd‐induced stress and reduce Cd uptake in maize seedlings.