Open AccessEthephon mitigates nickel stress by modulating antioxidant system, glyoxalase system and proline metabolism in Indian mustard
Author(s) -
M. Iqbal R. Khan,
Badar Jahan,
Mohamed F. Alajmi,
Tabish Rehman,
Nafees A. Khan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
physiology and molecular biology of plants/physiology and molecular biology of plants
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.754
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 0971-5894
pISSN - 0974-0430
DOI - 10.1007/s12298-020-00806-1
Subject(s) - ethephon , proline , glutathione reductase , superoxide dismutase , lactoylglutathione lyase , photosynthesis , chemistry , biochemistry , antioxidant , glutathione , drought tolerance , brassica , botany , glutathione peroxidase , horticulture , biology , enzyme , ethylene , amino acid , catalysis
The role of ethylene (through application of ethephon) in the regulation of nickel (Ni) stress tolerance was investigated in this study. Ethephon at concentration of 200 µl l -1 was applied to mustard ( Brassica juncea ) plants grown without and with 200 mg kg -1 soil Ni to study the increased growth traits, biochemical attributes, photosynthetic efficiency, nutrients content, activities of antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione peroxidase, glyoxalase systems and enhanced the proline metabolism. In the absence of ethephon, Ni increased oxidative stress with a concomitant decrease in photosynthesis, growth and nutrients content. However, application of ethephon positively increased growth traits, photosynthetic parameters, nutrients content and also elevated the generation of antioxidants enzymes and glyoxalase systems, proline production to combat oxidative stress. Plants water relations and cellular homeostasis were maintained through increased photosynthetic efficiency and proline production. This signifies the role of ethylene in mediating Ni tolerance via regulating proline production and photosynthetic capacity. Ethephon can be used as an exogenous supplement on plants to confer Ni tolerance. The results can be exploited to develop tolerance in plants via gene editing technology encoding enzymes responsible for proline synthesis, antioxidant defence, glyoxalase systems and photosynthetic effectiveness.