De-submergence responses of antioxidative defense systems in two wetland plants having escape and quiescence strategies

Abstract

Fast recovery after de-submergence requires efficient protection against oxidative injuries. We investigated whether de-submergence responses of antioxidant systems differ in two wetland plants, Alternanthera philoxeroides and Hemarthria altissima, characterized by ‘escape’ and ‘quiescence’ strategies of flood tolerance, respectively. The antioxidant capacity was assessed in the two species during 10d of recovery following 20d of complete submergence (low light+low O2) or severe shading (low light+ambient O2). The activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase were measured in leaf and root tissues, along with the concentrations of reduced ascorbate, malondialdehyde, and acetaldehyde. In addition, formation of superoxide (O2−) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was detected in leaves by chemical staining. Following de-submergence, plants of A. philoxeroides showed a transient burst of acetaldehyde, while the concentration of acetaldehyde increased slowly and stayed high in leaves of H. altissima. In leaves of A. philoxeroides, the variations in O2− and H2O2 correlated with the levels of light and O2, respectively, whereas neither of the two reactive oxygen species was detected in H. altissima. For A. philoxeroides, the antioxidant capacities changed mainly in leaves during the recovery. For H. altissima, changes in reduced ascorbate were found in leaves and those of antioxidant enzyme activities in roots. De-submergence caused some lipid peroxidation in leaves of both species. We conclude that de-submergence responses of the detoxification systems differ between A. philoxeroides and H. altissima, especially in leaves. Dynamic changes were found in A. philoxeroides (having the escape strategy), as opposed to little or slow changes in H. altissima (having the quiescence strategy). Whereas the antioxidant capacities are often strongly influenced by light environments, the toxic compounds and lipid peroxidation indicate harmful effects of changing O2 concentration which accompanies submergence and de-submergence.