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Oxidative damage to thylakoid proteins in water‐stressed leaves of wheat ( Triticum aestivum )
Author(s) -
Tambussi Eduardo A.,
Bartoli Carlos G.,
Beltrano José,
Guiamet Juan J.,
Araus José L.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-3054.2000.t01-1-100409.x
Subject(s) - thylakoid , chloroplast , photosynthesis , ascorbic acid , photosystem ii , chlorophyll fluorescence , electron transport chain , chlorophyll , quenching (fluorescence) , oxidative phosphorylation , oxidative stress , reactive oxygen species , chemistry , biology , biochemistry , botany , horticulture , fluorescence , physics , quantum mechanics , gene
The production of reactive oxygen species in the chloroplast may increase under water deficit. To determine if this causes oxidative damage to the photosynthetic apparatus, we analyzed the accumulation of oxidatively damaged proteins in thylakoids of water‐stressed wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) leaves. Water stress was imposed on 4‐week‐old plants by withholding watering for 10 days to reach a soil water potential of about −2.0 MPa. In thylakoids of water‐stressed leaves there was an increase in oxidative damage, particularly in polypeptides of 68, 54, 41 and 24 kDa. High molecular mass oxidized (probably cross‐linked) proteins accumulated in chloroplasts of droughted leaves. Oxidative damage was associated with a substantial decrease in photosynthetic electron transport activity and photosystem II (PSII) efficiency (F v /F m ). Treatment of stressed leaves with l ‐galactono‐1,4‐lactone (GL) increased their ascorbic acid content and enhanced photochemical and non‐photochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence. GL reduced oxidative damage to photosynthetic proteins of droughted plants, but it reverted the decrease in electron transport activity and PSII efficiency only partially, suggesting that other factors also contributed to loss of photosystem activity in droughted plants. Increasing the ascorbic acid content of leaves might be an effective strategy to protect thylakoid membranes from oxidative damage in water‐stressed leaves.