Abstract
Cantharidin and its analog, endothall, are known to have phytotoxic effects and their mechanism of action involves the inhibition of phosphatases. Enzymes and antioxidant compounds act as barriers against phytotoxic compounds. Catalase and peroxidase are among the most important antioxidant enzymes. Cichorium intybus L. has traditionally been used for its medicinal properties and contains various phytochemical and enzymatic compounds. The present study aimed to investigate the comparative effects of cantharidin and endothall with concentration of 2.5, 5.5 and 10 µg ml-1 on the changes in the gene expression of catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Furthermore, we assess the activities of these enzymes in the shoots and roots of Cichorium intybus L.. According to the findings, the expression of catalase and glutathione peroxidase increased in the samples treated with cantharidin more than endothall compared to the controls in both shoot (the most significant is in cantharidin with 2.5 µg ml-1 concentration) and root samples (the most significant is in cantharidin with 5.5 µg ml-1 concentration). In addition, the activity of catalase and concentrations of cantharidin (2.5 µg ml-1) in shoot samples led to the more intense stimulation of catalase and glutathione peroxidase compared to root samples. We suggest that cantharidin and endothall have negative effect on expression and absorption of antioxidant enzymes.
Highlights
Cichorium intybus L. belongs to the Asteraceae family (Heimler et al, 2009) and Wild chicory or blue daisy C.intybus is a diploid plant species (2n = 18) (Funk et al, 2005)
According to the investigation of the changes in the expression of the catalase gene in the roots of the samples treated with endothall, the changes in the expression of this gene were significant at the concentration of 10 μg ml-1 compared to the controls, while no significant changes were denoted at the other concentrations compared to the control
The results of the changes in the glutathione peroxidase and catalase genes in the samples treated with cantharidin indicated that the expression of these genes had a significant difference compared to the controls
Summary
The shoots of C.intybus could be as high as 0.5-1.5 meters in the wild state, and they may even exceed two meters. It is cultivated as an ornamental and medicinal plant across Europe. Flavonoids and terpenoids are among the important compounds found in C. intybus Some cultivars of this plant are widely cultivated in countries such as the United States, India, and New Zealand as a fodder plant to feed livestock. Cantharidin is a toxic terpenoid compound, which is found in the beetles of Meloidae and Oedemeridae families. Cantharidin has been used as a medicine in China since 2000 years ago This compound is of medical and economic significance due to its medicinal proprieties and severe toxicity in livestock. Endothall herbicide is one of the analogs of these compounds (Duke & Powles, 2008)
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