Abstract
Prior experiments illustrated reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction in maize plants infested with bird-cherry-oat (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) aphids. However, there is no available data unveiling the impact of aphids feeding on oxidative damages of crucial macromolecules in maize tissues. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the scale of oxidative damages of genomic DNA, total RNA and mRNA, proteins, and lipids in seedling leaves of two maize genotypes (Złota Karłowa and Waza cvs—susceptible and relatively resistant to the aphids, respectively). The content of oxidized guanosine residues (8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine; 8-OHdG) in genomic DNA, 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG) in RNA molecules, protein carbonyl groups, total thiols (T-SH), protein-bound thiols (PB-SH), non-protein thiols (NP-SH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and electrolyte leakage (EL) levels in maze plants were determined. In addition, the electrical penetration graphs (EPG) technique was used to monitor and the aphid stylet positioning and feeding modes in the hosts. Maize seedlings were infested with 0 (control), 30 or 60 R. padi adult apterae per plant. Substantial increases in the levels of RNA, protein and lipid oxidation markers in response to aphid herbivory, but no significant oxidative damages of genomic DNA, were found. Alterations in the studied parameters were dependent on maize genotype, insect abundance and infestation time.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.; Poaceae) has emerged as an important crop of increasing significance in several agronomic, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and industrial areas [1,2]
Sytykiewicz [11] uncovered that exogenous application of diphenyliodonium (DPJ), an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, significantly lowered the activity of this enzyme as well as the accumulation of H2O2 in maize seedling leaves exposed to R. padi attack, indicating the crucial role of excessive formation of superoxide anion radicals in oxidative responses of maize seedlings
Bird cherry-oat aphid feeding led to a significant depletion in total, non-protein and protein thiols in maize seedlings
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.; Poaceae) has emerged as an important crop of increasing significance in several agronomic, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and industrial areas [1,2]. It is a commonly used model plant in a variety of biochemical, molecular and genetic experiments [3,4]. Sytykiewicz et al [9] have classified fifteen maize cultivars with varying levels of resistance to R. padi adults. Intervarietal differences in level of biochemical markers of oxidative damages of proteins and lipids in aphid-stressed plants are highly unclear
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