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Exogenous sodium nitroprusside alleviates arsenic-induced oxidative stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings by enhancing antioxidant defense and glyoxalase system

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Abstract

The present study investigates the possible regulatory role of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) in mitigating oxidative stress in wheat seedlings exposed to arsenic (As). Seedlings were treated with NO donor (0.25 mM sodium nitroprusside, SNP) and As (0.25 and 0.5 mM Na2HAsO4·7H2O) separately and/or in combination and grown for 72 h. Relative water content (RWC) and chlorophyll (chl) content were decreased by As treatment but proline (Pro) content was increased. The ascorbate (AsA) content was decreased significantly with increased As concentration. The imposition of As caused marked increase in the MDA and H2O2 content. The amount of reduced glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) significantly increased with an increase in the level of As (both 0.25 and 0.5 mM), while the GSH/GSSG ratio decreased at higher concentration (0.5 mM). The ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase activities consistently increased with an increase in the As concentration, while glutathione reductase (GR) activities increased only at 0.25 mM. The monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) and catalase (CAT) activities were not changed upon exposure to As. The activities of dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) and glyoxalase I (Gly I) decreased at any levels of As, while glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glyoxalase II (Gly II) activities decreased only upon 0.5 mM As. Exogenous NO alone had little influence on the non-enzymatic and enzymatic components compared to the control seedlings. These inhibitory effects of As were markedly recovered by supplementation with SNP; that is, the treatment with SNP increased the RWC, chl and Pro contents; AsA and GSH contents and the GSH/GSSG ratio as well as the activities of MDHAR, DHAR, GR, GPX, CAT, Gly I and Gly II in the seedlings subjected to As stress. These results suggest that the exogenous application of NO rendered the plants more tolerant to As-induced oxidative damage by enhancing their antioxidant defense and glyoxalase system.

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Abbreviations

AO:

Ascorbate oxidase

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

AsA:

Ascorbic acid

CAT:

Catalase

CDNB:

1-Chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene

chl:

Chlorophyll

DHA:

Dehydroascorbate

DHAR:

Dehydroascorbate reductase

DTNB:

5,5′-Dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)

EDTA:

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

Gly I:

Glyoxalase I

Gly II:

Glyoxalase II

GR:

Glutathione reductase

GSH:

Reduced glutathione

GSSG:

Oxidized glutathione

GPX:

Glutathione peroxidase

GST:

Glutathione S-transferase

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

MDHA:

Monodehydroascorbate

MDHAR:

Monodehydroascorbate reductase

MG:

Methylglyoxal

NO:

Nitric oxide

NTB:

2-Nitro-5-thiobenzoic acid

Pro:

Proline

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

RWC:

Relative water content

SLG:

S-d-Lactoylglutathione

SNP:

Sodium nitroprusside

TBA:

Thiobarbituric acid

TCA:

Trichloroacetic acid

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. Mahbub Alam and Mrs. Kamrun Nahar, Laboratory of Plant Stress Responses, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Japan for critically reading of the manuscript. We also thank Mr. M.G. Mostofa of the same laboratory for his help in measuring the activity of glutathione reductase.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Stress Responses, Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, 2393 Ikenobe, Miki-cho, Kita-gun, Kagawa, 761-0795, Japan

    Mirza Hasanuzzaman & Masayuki Fujita

  2. Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, 1207, Bangladesh

    Mirza Hasanuzzaman

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  1. Mirza Hasanuzzaman
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  2. Masayuki Fujita
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Correspondence to Masayuki Fujita.

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Hasanuzzaman, M., Fujita, M. Exogenous sodium nitroprusside alleviates arsenic-induced oxidative stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings by enhancing antioxidant defense and glyoxalase system. Ecotoxicology 22, 584–596 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-013-1050-4

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