Lipoic acid confers osmotic stress tolerance to maize seedlings by upregulating the enzymes of antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems

Abstract

Exogenous application of lipoic acid (LA), which is a special antioxidant substance, alleviates abiotic stress damage in plants. However, the mechanism of action of LA in stress tolerance is still not fully understood. Here, the effect of exogenous LA on the coordination of antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems to alleviate osmotic stress damage was investigated. LA (12µM) was applied to the roots of 21-day-old seedlings in Hoagland nutrient solution for 8 hours and then the seedlings were exposed to 10% polyethylene glycol (PEG6000) for 3 days. Seedlings grown in Hoagland nutrient solution for 28 days were used as the control group. Exogenous LA under osmotic stress was found to increase the fresh and dry weights of the leaves, leaf relative water content, and non-enzymatic compounds such as ascorbate and glutathione (GSH) while significantly decreasing the contents of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and methylglyoxal (MG). LA application also increased some antioxidant enzyme activities such as ascorbate peroxidase (1.2-fold), glutathione peroxidase (1.3-fold), glutathione reductase (1.4-fold), and monodehydroascorbate reductase (1.8-fold). LA significantly induced the relative expression levels of the genes coding the antioxidant enzymes. Furthermore, LA stimulated the enzyme activities of the glyoxalase system (glyoxalase I (Gly I) (1.3-fold) and glyoxalase II (Gly II) (1.1-fold). Additionally, the relative expression levels of the Gly I and Gly II genes were consistent with the findings of the Gly I and Gly II activities. Moreover, exogenous LA induced the expression level of Gly II (1.4-fold) more than that of Gly I (1.3-fold). As a result, LA mitigates osmotic stress damage in maize by enhancing the activity of antioxidant and glyoxalase systems, enabling the rapid removal of reactive oxygen species and the toxic compound MG, thereby providing a protective mechanism. Further investigation of the effects of LA on crops exposed to abiotic stresses will contribute to improve the stress tolerance and increase agricultural yields.

Keywords

• Lipoic acid
• antioxidant system
• glyoxalase system
• osmotic stress
• maize
• gene expression

Lipoik asit, antioksidan savunma ve glioksalaz sistemlerinin enzimlerini artırarak mısır fidelerine ozmotik stres toleransı kazandırır

Abstract

Özel bir antioksidan madde olan lipoik asidin (LA) ekzojen uygulaması, bitkilerdeki abiyotik stres hasarını hafifletir. Bununla beraber, LA’nın stres toleransındaki etki mekanizması henüz tam olarak anlaşılamamıştır. Bu çalışmada, osmotik stres hasarını hafifletmek için antioksidan savunma ve glioksalaz sistemlerinin koordinasyonuna exojen LA uygulamasının etkisi incelenmiştir. 21 günlük fidelerin köklerine Hoagland besin solüsyonunda 8 saat süreyle LA (12 µM) uygulandı ve ardından fideler 3 gün süreyle %10'luk polietilen glikole (PEG6000) maruz bırakıldı. Kontrol grubu olarak 28 gün boyunca Hoagland besin solüsyonunda yetiştirilen fideler kullanıldı. Osmotik stres altında eksojen LA'nın, yaprakların taze ve kuru ağırlıklarını, yaprakların bağıl su içeriğini ve askorbat ve glutatyon (GSH) gibi enzimatik olmayan bileşenleri artırdığı, ayrıca hidrojen peroksit (H2O2) ve metilglioksal (MG) içeriklerini azalttığı bulunmuştur. LA uygulaması, askorbat peroksidaz (1.2 kat), glutatyon peroksidaz (1.3 kat), glutatyon redüktaz (1.4 kat) ve monodehidroaskorbat redüktaz (1.8 kat) gibi bazı antioksidan enzim aktivitelerini de artırmıştır. LA, antioksidan enzimlerin kodlayan genlerin bağıl ekspresyon seviyelerini de önemli derecede indüklemiştir. Ayrıca, LA, glioksalaz sistemi enzim aktivitelerini (glioksalaz I (Gly I) (1.3 kat) ve glioksalaz II (Gly II) (1.1 kat)) artırmıştır. Ayrıca, Gly I ve Gly II genlerinin bağıl ekspresyon seviyeleri, Gly I ve Gly II aktiviteleri ile tutarlıdır. Dahası, eksojen LA, Gly I'ye (1.3 kat) kıyasla Gly II'nin (1.4 kat) ekspresyon seviyesini daha fazla indüklemiştir. Sonuç olarak, LA, antioksidan ve glioksalaz sistemlerinin aktivitesini artırarak mısırdaki osmotik stres hasarını hafifletir, reaktif oksijen türlerinin ve toksik bileşik MG'nin hızla uzaklaştırılmasını sağlayarak koruyucu bir mekanizma sunar. LA'nın abiyotik streslere maruz kalan ürünler üzerindeki etkilerinin daha fazla araştırılması, stres toleransının iyileştirilmesine ve tarımsal verimin artırılmasına katkı sağlayacaktır.

Keywords

• Lipoik asit
• antioksidan sistem
• glioxalaz sistem
• osmotik stres
• mısır
• gen ekspresyonu

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