tailieunhanh - Influence of salicylic acid on phytochelatin synthesis in Zea mays during Cd stress

Presoaking maize (Zea mays) seeds in salicylic acid (SA) reduces damage caused by cadmium. In the present work the possible role of phytochelatins (PCs) in SA-mediated protection against Cd toxicity was investigated. Seeds were presoaked in mM SA, and seedlings were grown in hydroponic solution containing 0, , , or mM Cd. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2013) 37: 708-714 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Influence of salicylic acid on phytochelatin synthesis in Zea mays during Cd stress 1, 2 2 2 Gabriella SZALAI *, Alexander KRANTEV , Rusina YORDANOVA , Losanka Petrova POPOVA , Tibor JANDA 1 Agricultural Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Martonvásár, Hungary 2 Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria Received: Accepted: Published Online: 1 Printed: Abstract: Presoaking maize (Zea mays) seeds in salicylic acid (SA) reduces damage caused by cadmium. In the present work the possible role of phytochelatins (PCs) in SA-mediated protection against Cd toxicity was investigated. Seeds were presoaked in mM SA, and seedlings were grown in hydroponic solution containing 0, , , or mM Cd. Treatment with Cd increased the PC levels in maize roots, but only slight changes were observed in the leaves. Long-term exposure to Cd decreased the phytochelatin synthase (PCS) activity in the roots and led to an increase in PCS and glutathione reductase (GR) activities in maize leaves. Although presoaking seeds in SA solution before exposure to Cd may reduce the level of heavy metal injury and has an effect on the composition of individual PCs, this protection is not directly connected with the altered regulation of PCs. Key words: Cadmium, heavy metal, phytochelatins, salicylic acid, Zea mays 1. Introduction The accumulation of heavy metals in the soil is dangerous for all living organisms. In plants, cadmium is one of the most readily absorbed and rapidly translocated heavy metals, which explains why it exerts such strong toxicity even at relatively low concentrations (Seregin & Ivanov, 1998; Pál et al., 2006; Khurana & Kansal, 2012; Tran & Popova, 2013). The level of Cd uptake in