biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 52:314-320, 2008 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-008-0065-9

Glutathione and phytochelatin contents in tomato plants exposed to cadmium

W. Ben Ammar^1,*, C. Mediouni¹, B. Tray¹, M. H. Ghorbel¹, F. Jemal¹

¹ Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, Tunis, Tunisia

The effect of cadmium on growth and contents of glutathione (GSH) and phytochelatins (PCs) were investigated in roots and leaves of tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. 63/5 F1). The accumulation of Cd increased with external Cd concentrations and was considerably higher in roots than in leaves. Dry mass production decreased under Cd treatment especially in leaves. In both roots and leaves, exposure to Cd caused an appreciable decline in GSH contents and increase in PCs synthesis proportional to Cd concentrations in the growth medium. At the same Cd concentration, PCs production was higher in roots than in leaves. The implication of glutathione in PC synthesis was strongly suggested by the use of buthionine sulfoximine (BSO). The major fraction of Cd accumulated by tomato roots was in the form of a Cd-PCs complex.

Keywords: buthionine sulfoximine; complex Cd-PC; Lycopersicon esculentum

Subjects: glutathione reductase; heavy metals; Lycopersicon esculentum; phytochelatins; thiobarbituric acid; tomato

Received: September 20, 2006; Accepted: March 9, 2007; Published: June 1, 2008  Show citation