Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems the world faces today. It is an issue that troubles us economically, physically and everyday of our lives. The contamination of the environment is also being linked to some of the diseases that are around currently. This shows that environmental pollution is becoming an increasingly worse problem that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible, not only for the good of the environment but also for the people that live in it

Humans have been introducing trace metals into the environment since they first gained knowledge of their many useful properties. Since then, humans have used various means to extract these and other metal compounds from the earth's crust.

Metals are found throughout the earth, in rocks, soils and sediments, primarily trapped in some stable form. So, even if a trace metal is toxic at high concentrations, it may be needed in small quantities to maintain life. Therefore, the biogeochemical cycle which exists ensures that the distribution of any given metal within an ecosystem be held relatively constant over time.

Not only the humankind being affected even plants and other organisms are affected by metal pollution. Aluminum toxicity is one of the major factor that limit plant growth and development in many acid soils. In the present project we have taken Amaranthus tricolor L in order to study its Biochemical changes during Aluminium stress.

The Amaranthus (Dantu soppu) is a common component of leafy vegetable consumed by a large population in India. It is an upright branched annual herb. The seeds are small and brown. Its original home is perhaps India, but it is cultivated in most part of the world. Mature leaves contain red- violet pigmets, proteins, fats, carbohydrates and also rich in minerals and vitamins.

The project involves the germination of Amaranthus to get seedlings of 15 days old and are subjected to Stress treatments by using Hoagland nutrient solution supplemented with Aluminum (Al) in the form of Aluminum chloride at different concentrations.  Stress treatments were continued to fulfill the following objectives

• To study the changes in water relationships and cell membrane stability.
• To investigate the changes in certain free  radicals such as H2O2 and O2-
• To determine the changes in antioxidant molecules such as ascorbate , glutathione and antioxidant enzymes.
• To confirm the plant’s ability to absorb or accumulate with the trace metal and estimation of Al3+ concentrations in plant.
• Finally PCR analysis of the antioxidant genes.