JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 775–795, 2004 Shoot Cadmium Accumulation and Photosynthetic Performance of Barley Plants Exposed to High Cadmium Treatments Andon Vassilev, 1, * Fernando C. Lidon, 2 Jose´ C. Ramalho, 3 Maria do Ce´u Matos, 4 and Maria G. Bareiro 4 1 Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Agricultural University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria 2 GDEH, UBIA, Faculdade de Cieˆncias e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal 3 Instituto de Investigac¸a˜o Cientı´fica Tropical-CEPTA, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisboa, Portugal 4 Plant Physiology Department, Estac¸a˜o Agrono´mica Nacional- INIA, Quinta do Marqueˆs, Av. da Republic, Oeiras, Portugal ABSTRACT Barley (Hordeum vulgare L., cv. Ribeka) plants grown in sand culture were exposed for 10 days to high cadmium (Cd) treatments in order to *Correspondence: Andon Vassilev, Assistant Professor, Agricultural University of Plovdiv, Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 12 Mendeleev St., Plovdiv 4000, Bulgaria; Fax: 359 32 633 157; E-mail: vassilev@au-plovdiv.bg or a_vassilev2001@yahoo.com. 775 DOI: 10.1081/PLN-120030613 0190-4167 (Print); 1532-4087 (Online) Copyright & 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com