Exogenous melatonin mitigates cadmium toxicity through ascorbic acid and glutathione pathway in wheat.

Cadmium (Cd) is a dispensable element that can be absorbed by crops, posing a threat to human health through the food chains. Melatonin (MT), as a plant growth regulator, has been used to alleviate Cd toxicity in many plant species; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for Cd toxicity in wheat are still poorly understood. In this study, the suitable exogenous MT concentration (50 µM) was screened to mitigate Cd toxicity of wheat plants by increasing the plant height, root length, fresh or dry weight and chlorophyll content, or decreasing the malondialdehyde (MDA) content. In addition, MT application significantly increased ascorbic acid (ASA) and glutathione (GSH) content by reducing ROS production, especially in roots, further decreasing Cd content in fraction of organelles. Moreover, the expression levels of ASA-GSH synthesis genes, APX, GR, and GST were significantly increased by 171.5%, 465.2%, and 256.8% in roots, respectively, whereas GSH, DHAR, or MDHAR were significantly decreased by 48.5%, 54.3%, or 60.0% in roots under MT + Cd stress. However, the expression levels of Cd-induced metal transporter genes TaNramp1, TaNramp5, TaHMA2, TaHMA3, and TaLCT1 were significantly decreased by 53.7%, 50.1%, 86.5%, 87.2%, and 94.5% in roots under MT + Cd stress compared with alone Cd treatment, respectively. In conclusion, our results suggesting that MT alleviate Cd toxicity in wheat by enhancing ASA-GSH metabolism, suppressing Cd transporter gene expression, and regulating Cd uptake and translocation in wheat plants.

Putrescine transformation to other forms of polyamines in filling grain embryos functioned in enhancing the resistance of maize plants to drought stress.

Polyamines (PAs), one of plant growth regulators, play an important role in the plant resistance to drought stress. However, the precise function of putrescine (Put) transformation to other forms of PAs is not clear in filling maize grain embryos. In this study, two maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars, Yedan No. 13 (drought-resistant) and Xundan No. 22 (drought-sensitive), were used as experimental materials. Maize was planted in big plastic basins during whole growth period, and from the 25th day after fertilization, the plants were treated with drought (-1.0 MPa), PAs and inhibitors for 12 d. The experiments were performed during three consecutive years. The changes in the levels of three main free PAs, Put, spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm), covalently conjugated PAs (perchloric acid-soluble), covalently bound PAs (perchloric acid-insoluble), the activities of arginine decarboxylase, S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase, and transglutaminase were investigated in embryos of filling grains. During drought stress, free Put increased from 109 to 367 nmol g-1 FW and from 107 to 142 nmol g-1 FW in Xundan 22 and in Yedan 13, respectively. Meanwhile, free Spd, free Spm and bound Put increased 2.7, 3.0 and 4.2 times in Yedan 13, respectively, and they merely increased about 1.5 times in Xundan 22. These results suggested that free Spd/Spm and bound Put, which were transformed from free Put, were possibly involved in drought resistance. Exogenous Spd treatment enhanced the drought-induced increase in endogenous free Spd/Spm content in drought-sensitive Xundan 22, coupled with the increase in drought resistance, as judged by the decrease in ear leaf relative plasma membrane permeability and increases in ear leaf relative water content, 1000-grain weight and grain number per ear. The suggestion was further testified with methylglyoxal-bis guanylhydrazone and o-phenanthrolin treatments. Collectively, it could be inferred that transformation of free Put to free Spd/Spm and bound Put in filling grain embryos functioned in enhancing the resistance of maize plants to soil drought.

Effects of osmotic stress on the kinds, forms and levels of polyamines in wheat coleoptiles.

The changes in levels and forms of polyamine (Pa) in the coleoptiles of two wheat (triticum aestivum L.) cultivars differing in drought tolerance were investigated under osmotic stress. The drought-tolerant 'Yumai 18' showed marked increases in free spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm) levels in coleoptiles after being treated with polyethylene glycol (PEG)-6000 for 2 d in the dark, while drought-sensitive 'Yangmai 9' showed a significant increase in free putrescine (Put) content. Treatment of coleoptiles with methylglyoxal-bis (guanylhydrazone) (MGBG), an S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (S-AMDC) inhibitor, resulted in reduction of free Spd and free Spm levels in coleoptiles and aggravation of PEG-induced injury to 'Yumai 18' coleoptile, while exogenous Spd treatment resulted in an increase in free Spd + free Spm content of coleoptiles, and an alleviation of PEG-induced injury to 'Yangmai 9' coleoptile. Osmotic stress induced significant increases in perchloric acid-soluble conjugated PA (PS conjugated PA) and perchloric acid-insoluble conjugated PA (PIS conjugated PA) levels in coleoptiles of 'Yumai 18' whereas osmotic stress affected only slightly the PS-conjugated PA and PIS-conjugated PA levels in 'Yangmai 9' coleoptiles. Treatment of coleoptiles with phenanthroline (o-Phen), an inhibitor of transglutaminase (TGase), also aggravated the PEG-induced injury to 'Yumai 18' coleoptiles, accompanied by the decreases in the level of PIS-conjugated PA. These results suggest that free Spd, free Spm and conjugated PA enhance the osmotic stress tolerance of wheat coleoptiles.

Relationship between AtPase activity and conjugated polyamines in mitochondrial membrane from wheat seedling roots under osmotic stress.

The effects of osmotic stress on the ATPase activity, the contents of -SH group and conjugated polyamines in mitochondrial membrane from wheat seedling [Triticum aestivum L. cv. Yumai No. 18 (drought-tolerant) and cv. Yumai No. 9 (drought-sensitive)] roots were investigated. The results showed that ATPase activity and -SH group content decreased with polyethylene glycol(PEG) 6000(-0.55 MPa) treatment for 7 d, in concert with the decrease of the ratio of noncovalently conjugated spermidine (NCC-Spd)/noncovalently conjugated putrescine(NCC-Put) and increase of the covalently conjugated putrescine (CC-Put). Osmotic stress injury to Yangmai No.9 seedlings was alleviated greatly with 1 mmol/L exogenous spermidine(Spd), in concert with marked increases of the ratio of NCC-Spd/NCC-Put, -SH group contents and ATPase activity in mitochondrial membrane. Under osmotic stress, the concomitant treatment of Yumai No. 18 seedlings with methylglyoxyl bis(guanylhydrazone) (MGBG), an inhibitor of S-adenosyl methionine decarboxylase(SAMDC), and phenanthrolin (o-Phen), an inhibitor of transglutaminase(TGase), caused a significant decrease of the ratio of NCC-Spd/NCC-Put, CC-Put contents, respectively, in concert with the marked decreases of ATPase activity, -SH group content and its tolerance to osmotic stress. All the results above suggested that osmotic stress tolerance of wheat seedlings was associated with the ATPase activity, the contents of -SH group, NCC-Spd and CC-Put in mitochondrial membrane.