This experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of cadmium on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana when they were treated with different concentrations of cadmium. The growth of stem was stimulated in the concentrations up to fifty times higher than the official standard concentration of cadmium of pollutant exhaust notified by the Ministry of Environment, but it decreased in the concentration one hundred fifty times or more higher in proportion to the degree of concentration. The growth of root was similar to that of stem, except that the decrease was gradual in the concentration fifty times or more higher. The growth of leaf was almost the same as that of stem, that is, it was stimulated the increase of leaf surface area in the concentration fifty times higher, but decreased in the concentration one hundred fifty times or more higher in proportion to the degree of concentration. The fresh weights of the plants were increased in accord with the degree of growth of the stem and leaf. Concentration of cadmium accumulated in the plants was increased in proportion to the concentration of cadmium. These results show that the growth of plants was stimulated in the soil polluted by cadmium up to fifty times higher than the official standard concentration, but it was decreased in proportion to the degree of concentration in the plants grown in the presence of cadmium more than one hundred fifty times

• 박종범(신라대학교 자연과학대학 생물과학과) | Jong-Bum Park Corresponding Author