Antioxidant defences in olive trees during drought stress: changes in activity of some antioxidant enzymes
Adriano Sofo A C , Bartolomeo Dichio A , Cristos Xiloyannis A and Andrea Masia BA Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Dipartimento di Scienze dei Sistemi Colturali, Forestali e dell’Ambiente, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
B Università degli Studi di Bologna, Dipartimento di Colture Arboree, viale Fanin 46, 40127, Bologna, Italy.
C Corresponding author. Email: sofo@unibas.it
Functional Plant Biology 32(1) 45-53 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP04003
Submitted: 8 January 2004 Accepted: 11 November 2004 Published: 21 January 2005
Abstract
The effects of drought on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (POD), indoleacetate oxidase (IAAox) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) were studied in 2-year old Olea europaea L. (cv. ‘Coratina’) plants grown under high temperatures and irradiance levels and gradually subjected to a controlled water deficit. After 20 d without irrigation, mean predawn leaf water potential fell from –0.37 to –5.37 MPa, and decreases in net photosynthesis and transpiration occurred. The activities of SOD, APX, CAT and POD increased in relation to the severity of drought stress in both leaves and roots. In particular, a marked increase in APX activity was found in leaves of plants at severe drought stress. CAT activity increased during severe water deficit conditions in leaves and fine roots. The patterns of POD and IAA oxidase activity ran in parallel and showed increases in relation to the degree of drought. In contrast, PPO activity decreased during the progression of stress in all the tissues studied. The results show that the ability of olive trees to up-regulate the enzymatic antioxidant system might be an important attribute linked to drought tolerance. This could limit cellular damage caused by active oxygen species during water deficit.
Keywords: ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, indoleacetate oxidase, polyphenol oxidase, superoxide dismutase.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Dr Mike Clearwater for his important suggestions about the manuscript. We thank Professor Elvira Di Nardo for her contribution to the statistical analysis and Dr Giuseppe Montanaro for his help with use of LCA-4.
Aebi H
(1984) Catalase in vitro. Methods in Enzymology 105, 121–126.
| PubMed |
Allen RD,
Webb RP, Schake SA
(1997) Use of transgenic plants to study antioxidant defenses. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 23, 473–479.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Angelopoulos K,
Dichio B, Xiloyannis C
(1996) Inhibition of photosynthesis in olive trees (Olea europaea L.) during water stress and rewatering. Journal of Experimental Botany 47, 1093–1100.
Asada K
(1999) The water–water cycle in chloroplasts: scavenging of active oxygens and dissipation of excess photons. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 50, 601–639.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Bacon MA,
Thompson DS, Davies WJ
(1997) Can cell wall peroxidase activity explain the leaf growth response of Lolium temulentum L. during drought? Journal of Experimental Botany 48, 2075–2085.
Bowler C,
Van Montagu M, Inzé D
(1992) Superoxide dismutase and stress tolerance. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 43, 83–116.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cañal MJ,
Tamés RS, Fernández B
(1988) Peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activities in Cyperus esculentus leaves following glyphosate applications. Physiologia Plantarum 74, 125–130.
Chance B, Maehly AC
(1955) Assay of catalases and peroxidases. Methods in Enzymology 2, 764–775.
| Crossref |
Dichio B,
Romano M,
Nuzzo V, Xiloyannis C
(2002) Soil water availability and relationship between canopy and roots in young olive trees (cv, Coratina). Acta Horticulturae 586, 255–258.
Feierabend J,
Schaan C, Hertwig B
(1992) Photoinactivation of catalase occurs under both high and low temperature stress conditions and accompanies photoinhibition of photosystem II. Plant Physiology 100, 1554–1561.
Fernández JE,
Moreno F,
Martin-Aranda J, Fereres E
(1992) Olive-tree root dynamics under different soil water regimes. Agricoltura Mediterranea 122, 225–235.
Fernández JE,
Moreno F,
Girón IF, Blázquez OM
(1997) Stomatal control of water use in olive tree leaves. Plant and Soil 190, 179–192.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Foyer CH,
Lelandais M, Kunert KJ
(1994) Photooxidative stress in plants. Physiologia Plantarum 92, 696–717.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Foyer CH, Mullineaux PM
(1998) The presence of dehydroascorbate and dehydroascorbate reductase in plant tissues. FEBS Letters 425, 528–529.
| Crossref |
PubMed |
Fry SC
(1986) Cross-linking of matrix polymers in the growing cell walls of angiosperms. Annual Review of Plant Physiology 37, 165–186.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Havir EA, McHale NA
(1987) Biochemical and developmental characterization of multiple forms of catalase in tobacco leaves. Plant Physiology 84, 450–455.
Hrubcová M,
Cvikrová M,
Eder J,
Zoń J, Macháčková I
(2000) Effect of inhibition of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis on peroxidase and IAA-oxidase activities and auxin content in alfalfa suspension cultures. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 38, 949–956.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ingram J, Bartels D
(1996) The molecular basis of dehydration tolerance in plants. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 47, 377–403.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Kuwabara T, Katoh Y
(1999) Involvement of the binuclear copper site in the proteolytic activity of polyphenol oxidase. Plant and Cell Physiology 40, 1029–1035.
Lo Gullo AM, Salleo S
(1988) Different strategies of drought resistance in three Mediterranean sclerophyllous trees growing in the same environmental conditions. New Phytologist 108, 267–276.
Madamanchi NR,
Donahue JL,
Cramer CL,
Alscher RG, Pedersen K
(1994) Differential response of Cu, Zn superoxide dismutases in two pea cultivars during a short-term exposure to sulfur dioxide. Plant Molecular Biology 26, 95–103.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Mehlhorn H,
Lelandais M,
Korth HG, Foyer CH
(1996) Ascorbate is the natural substrate for plant peroxidases. FEBS Letters 378, 203–206.
| Crossref |
PubMed |
Moreno F,
Fernández JE,
Clothier BE, Green SR
(1996) Transpiration and root water uptake by olive trees. Plant and Soil 184, 85–96.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Moriana A,
Villalobos FJ, Fereres E
(2002) Stomatal and photosynthetic responses of olive (Olea europaea L.) leaves to water deficits. Plant, Cell and Environment 25, 395–405.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Noctor N,
Veljovic-Jovanovic S, Foyer CH
(2000) Peroxide processing in photosynthesis: antioxidant coupling and redox signalling. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 355, 1465–1475.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Nogués S, Baker NR
(2000) Effects of drought on photosynthesis in Mediterranean plants grown under enhanced UV-B radiation. Journal of Experimental Botany 51, 1309–1317.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Owen RW,
Mier W,
Giacosa A,
Hull WE,
Spiegelhalder B, Bartsch H
(2000) Phenolic compounds and squalene in olive oils: the concentration and antioxidant potential of total phenols, simple phenols, secoiridoids, lignans and squalene. Food and Chemical Toxicology 38, 647–659.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Purohit S,
Laloraya MM, Bhartu S
(1991) Effect of phenolic compounds on abscisic acid-induced stomatal movement: structure–activity relationship. Physiologia Plantarum 81, 79–82.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Rice-Evans CA,
Miller NJ, Paganga G
(1997) Antioxidant properties of phenolic compounds. Trends in Plant Science 2, 152–159.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ricard J, Job D
(1974) Reaction mechanisms of indole-3-acetate degradation by peroxidases (a stopped-flow and low-temperature spectroscopic study). European Journal of Biochemistry 44, 359–374.
| PubMed |
Ryan D,
Antolovich M,
Prenzler P,
Robards K, Lavee S
(2002) Biotransformation of phenolic compounds in Olea europaea L. Scientia Horticulturae 92, 147–176.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Shinshi H, Noguchi M
(1975) Relationship between peroxidase, IAA oxidase and polyphenol oxidase. Phytochemistry 14, 1255–1258.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sitbon F,
Hennion S,
Little CHA, Sundberg B
(1999) Enhanced ethylene production and peroxidase activity in IAA-overproducing transgenic tobacco plants is associated with increased lignin content and altered lignin composition. Plant Science 141, 165–173.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Smirnoff N
(1993) The role of active oxygen in the response to water deficit and desiccation. New Phytologist 125, 27–58.
Smirnoff N
(2000) Ascorbic acid: metabolism and functions of a multi-facetted molecule. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 3, 229–235.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Tambussi EA,
Casadesus J,
Munné-Bosch S, Araus JL
(2002) Photoprotection in water-stressed plants of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum): changes in chlorophyll fluorescence, spectral signature and photosynthetic pigments. Functional Plant Biology 29, 35–44.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Tombesi A,
Proietti P, Nottiani G
(1986) Effect of water stress on photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal resistance and carbohydrate level in olive tree. Olea 17, 35–40.
Turner NC
(1981) Techniques and experimental approaches for the measurement of plant water status. Plant and Soil 58, 339–366.
Ushimaru T,
Maki Y,
Sano S,
Koshiba K,
Asada K, Tsuji H
(1997) Induction of enzymes involved in the ascorbate-dependent antioxidative system, namely, ascorbate peroxidase, monodehydroascorbate reductase and dehydroascorbate reductase, after exposure to air of rice (Oriza sativa) seedlings germinated under water. Plant and Cell Physiology 38, 541–549.
Van Breusegem F,
Vranovà E,
Dat JF, Inzé D
(2001) The role of active oxygen species in plant signal transduction. Plant Science 161, 405–414.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Vranová E,
Inzé D, Van Breusegem F
(2002) Signal transduction during oxidative stress. Journal of Experimental Botany 53, 1227–1236.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Wingler A,
Lea PJ,
Quick WP, Leegood RC
(2000) Photorespiration: metabolic pathways and their role in stress protection. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 355, 1517–1529.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Xiloyannis C,
Pezzarossa B,
Jorba J, Angelici P
(1988) Effects on soil water content on gas exchange in olive trees. Advances in Horticultural Science 2, 58–63.
