Implication of Antioxidant Defence in Tolerance to Fe Deficiency of Pisum Sativum Leaves

Abstract

The intend of this work was to investigate whether some leaf parameters involved in the antioxidant mechanisms were differently expressed in two pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars characterized by different tolerance to Fe deficiency: cv. Kelvedon, tolerant and cv. Lincoln, susceptible. Both cultivars were grown in a full strength nutrient solution (C), in the absence of Fe (direct deficiency, DD) or in the presence of Fe and bicarbonate (induced deficiency, ID) for 12 days. Our results show that peroxidase activity and isoform expression increased in Kelvedon in both treatments, while it decreased in Lincoln plants grown in the presence of bicarbonate, suggesting the involvement of this activity improvement in Fe deficiency tolerance of pea plants. Interestingly, while only slight differences were reported between both cultivars under DD, the adaptation of Kelvedon under ID seems to be related, at least in part, to its greater ability to enhance the antioxidant defense at leaf level.