IMPACT ON PROLINE CONTENT OF JATROPHA CURCAS IN FLY ASH AMENDED SOIL WITH RESPECT TO HEAVY METALS Original Article SEEMA RAJ * , SUMEDHA MOHAN Amity University, Noida, U. P. Email: seemaraj1980@yahoo.co.in Received: 27 Jan 2016 Revised and Accepted: 30 Mar 2016 ABSTRACT Objective: To reveal the property of Jatropha curcas, to retain itself under the heavy metal stress of high concentration of fly ash through the increase in proline content in plants. Methods: A pot culture experiment was conducted to investigate growth performance, biochemical and physiological responses of the Jatropha curcas (n=15) in fly ash amended the soil. The present study was performed as an attempt to determine the growth performance of Jatropha curcas using various concentrations of fly ash and soil [100% soil (T1), 25% fly ash+75% soil (T2), 50% fly ash+50% soil (T3) and 75% fly ash+25% soil (T4) and 100% fly ash (T5)]. The elemental composition (Zn, Ca, Mg, Pb, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Cd) was studied by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer in base material at the beginning and at the end of the study. The three years response was reported and observed that the proline content in Jatropha curcas leaves increased as the fly ash concentration increased (as proline is a stress protein which is formed according to the defensive capability of plants). Results: After three years of complete plant growth the elemental (heavy metals) uptake increased with respect to the availability. The overall proline content increased as 2.48 µg/ml, 3.97 µg/ml, 4.78 µg/ml, 5.25 µg/ml and 5.60 µg/ml in T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. After evaluating the correlation between heavy metal uptake and proline content, all the results showed positive significance at 0.05% and 0.01% significance level. Conclusion: According to the results it has been proved that when heavy metal uptake by Jatropha curcas increases through fly ash, the proline content increases according to its capability to defence itself in stress conditions. This research motivated to waste utilization, sustainable development, and environment protection. Keywords: Soil, Fly ash, Jatropha curcas, Proline, Growth performance © 2016 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) INTRODUCTION Fly-ash is a solid waste consisting of completely burnt or unburnt particles of carbon resulting from the burning coal. Fly ash constitutes the large portion of the total quantity of residues produced in a coal- fired thermal power plant. The electrostatic precipitator separates dust particles from the flue gases. Now the bottom ash as non- combustible by-product obtained through combustion in a furnace. Fly ash is a good soil ameliorate [1, 2] and very useful for agriculture [3]. Fly ash addition to soil improves or changes various physical, chemical and biological properties of soil. It is also observed that tomato plant grown in fly ash mixture showed luxuriant growth with bigger leaves. Plant growth, yield, pigment content were enhanced in 40-80 % fly ash amended soils. With 100% fly ash, yield was considerably reduced. The most economical level of fly ash incorporation was 40%, which improved the yield and market value [4]. By fly ash application the seed yield of black gram increases with fly ash at the rate of 250g Kg -1 [5]. The increase in chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate of Jatropha curcas has been observed with a low dose of fly ash (20%) with soil [6]. It was also reported that Jatropha curcas has medicinal properties [7], which also can enhance by using 25% fly ash with soil in the base material [8]. Proline is a α-amino acid (imino acid), one of the 20 DNA-encoded amino acids found in proteins. It is distinctive among the 20 protein- forming amino acids in that the α-amino group is secondary. The more common ‘L’ form has ‘S’ stereochemistry. In plants, proline is synthesized from glutamic acid through a path catalysed by pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase and pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase. Its presence in various abiotic stresses (heat, cold, drought, moisture, and salinity) in important crop plants considered as a tolerance mechanism. It is recommended to act as compatible as well as a source of nitrogen during recovery from stress. Compatible products act an as chemical chaperone, which protects proteins during various abiotic stresses. Due to the presence of heavy metals in fly ash the stress protein (proline) produced in plants for the survival. This was reported in 2012 [9], that when the seedlings of Jatropha curcas under cadmium and lead and their combined stress. The plant biomass, gas exchange rate, and photosynthetic pigment contents decreased while leaf conductivity, the soluble proteins, and free proline content increased significantly. The present study involves the evaluation of the effect of fly ash on proline content in leaves in different concentrations. MATERIALS AND METHODS The fly ash from Rajghat thermal power station, New Delhi, India, was brought to the experimental site. The soil was collected from a garden near Badshahpur, Sohna road, Gurgaon, Haryana. The fly ash and garden soil were mixed. Experiments were conducted under natural conditions in cement pots. For the growth of Jatropha curcas fly ash and soil are mixed in five different concentrations. The five different treatments and each treatment had sample size 15 (15-15 pots of each treatment) prepared. These are as follows: 1. Treatment 1 (T1/T1): 100% soil (control) 2. Treatment 2 (T2/T2): 25% fly ash+75% soil 3. Treatment 3 (T3/T3): 50% fly ash+50% soil 4. Treatment 4 (T4/T4): 75% fly ash+25% soil 5. Treatment 5 (T5/T5): 100% fly ash The seeds of Jatropha curcas were collected from “National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development Board, Sector-18, Gurgaon”. The seeds were sowed in the month of July. The germination of seeds started in the month of August. For three consecutive years, the plant growth performance was evaluated from May to October (M1/M1 to M6/M6). Initially before the sowing of Jatropha curcas seeds in pots, the elemental composition was evaluated by AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer). These elements are as follows: Zn, Ca, Mg, Pb, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Cd. The proline content International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences ISSN- 0975-1491 Vol 8, Issue 5, 2016