Estimation of plant growth promoting potential of a nickel accumulating isolate obtained from dhapa industrial wasteland (Kolkata, India) soil on Indian yellow mustard (Brassica hirta)

Heavy metal pollution of soil is becoming one of the most severe environmental hazards and has received great attention in the last few years because of its negative impact on human health and agriculture. Economically, excessive accumulation of heavy metals is most toxic to crop plants and results in decreased soil microbial activity, soil fertility and yield losses (McGrath et al., 1995). Various lines of data (Guo et al.; 1996,Mclaughlin et al.; 1999; Sanita et al., 1999; Chen et al., 2003;) indicate that accumulation of heavy metal also threaten human health through the food chain. Although Nickel (Ni) in general is known as an essential micronutrient and components of some plant enzymes (Eskew et al.,1983; Andreeva et al., 2001) but it is highly phytotoxic when present in excessive concentrations. It has been reported that Ni toxicity is correlated with growth inhibition, changes in chloroplast and chlorophyll ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 4 Number 1 (2015) pp. 765-772 http://www.ijcmas.com