Regulation of antioxidant activity in maize (Zeamays L.) by exogenous application of sulfur under saline conditions

Abstract

One of the major effects of salt stress is high production of reactive oxygen species that adversely affect essential cellular metabolic pathways. To limit the elevated production of reactive oxygen species, plants stimulate various types of antioxidants. In this study, sulfur was used to induce tolerance against oxidative stress through modulation of the activities of various antioxidants. Two maize genotypes (Agatti 2003 and Pak Afgoi 2003) were subjected to different salinity (25 and 75 mM) and sulfur (40 and 80 mM) treatments and a control treatment. Various antioxidants and oxidative stress determinants in maize organs (leaf, shoot, and root) were studied. It was found that salt stress decreased ascorbic acid and tocopherol, but stimulated the production of total phenolics, carotenoids, lycopene, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, malondialdehyde, and hydrogen peroxide. Exogenously applied sulfur decreased carotenoids, malondialdehyde, and hydrogen peroxide and increased ascorbic acid, tocopherol, total phenolics, lycopene, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase. Agatti 2003 showed higher antioxidant activity than Pak Afgoi 2003. In conclusion, sulfur application at the 40 mM level balanced antioxidants and oxidative stress determinants to induce salt tolerance in maize plants.

Improvement of Polyethylene Glycol, Sorbitol, Mannitol, and Sucrose-Induced Osmotic Stress Tolerance through Modulation of the Polyamines, Proteins, and Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Potato

“…SOD plays a vital role in the scavenging of superoxide radicals [48]. Previously, several workers have reported that the activity of SOD increases significantly in plants as a result of various stresses, especially water stress [52][53][54][55]. In our work, an overall increase in SOD activity was recorded under sorbitol, mannitol, sucrose, or PEG-induced water deficit.…”

Biochemical and morphological responses to cadmium-induced oxidative stress in Cladophora glomerata

“…Increasing the MDA content of algae due to exposure of heavy metal has been previously proven by many researchers (Piotrowska-Niczyporuk et al, 2012;Rai et al, 2013;Çelekli et al, 2016). In addition, salinity gradients increased MDA content in Polygonum equisetiforme (Boughalleb et al, 2020) and Zea mays (Rıffat and Ahmad, 2020). The consequent formation of MDA is a breakdown product of membrane lipid peroxidation when insufficient detoxification of ROS by biota occurs (Pinto et al, 2003).…”

Subcellular compartmentalization of the plant antioxidant system: an integrated overview

“…Study of the effect of salinity on tomato ( Parvin et al, 2019 ) showed a strong increase of SOD, APX, GPX, and DHAR activity proportionally to NaCl concentration during salt stress. Riffat & Ahmad (2020) showed for Zea mays L. that under salt-stress treatment, amounts of ascorbate and tocopherols decreased and production of SOD, CAT, POX, and some compounds (i.e., phenolics, carotenoids, MDA) increased. The authors emphasized the role of exogenous sulfur as an inductor of salt tolerance because of enhancement of SOD, POX, CAT, increasing of AsA, tocopherol, phenolics, and decreasing carotenoids and MDA during sulfur supply.…”