Changes in proline accumulation and antioxidative enzyme activities in Groenlandia densa under cadmium stress

• Published in: Ecological Indicators
• Main Authors: Parlak, Kadiriye Uruc, Yilmaz, Dilek
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Groenlandia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.06.012; https://avesis.erciyes.edu.tr/publication/details/0ba38433-9b79-4bd8-b5a9-3629cd146155/oai

In this study an experiment was carried out to study the process of stress adaptation in Groenlandia densa (opposite-leaved pondweed) grown under cadmium stress (0-20 mg L-1 Cd). The results showed that Cd concentrations in plants increased with increasing Cd supply levels and reached a maximum of 0.43 mg kg(-1) DW at 0.5 mg L-1 Cd concentrations. The level of photosynthetic pigments and soluble proteins decreased only upon exposure to high Cd concentrations. At the same time, the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) increased with increasing Cd concentration. These results suggested an alleviation of stress that was presumably the result of by antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) as well as ascorbate peroxidase (APX), which increased linearly with increasing Cd levels. Cellular antioxidants levels showed a decline suggesting a defensive mechanism to protect against oxidative stress caused by Cd. In addition, the proline content in G. densa increased with increasing cadmium levels. These findings suggest that G. densa is equipped with an efficient antioxidant mechanism against Cd-induced oxidative stress which protects the plant's photosynthetic machinery from damage.