Abstract
In order to evaluate the effects of exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) in alleviating nickel (Ni) stress in wheat plants. We studied the changes of biochemical and physiological in wheat seedlings exposed to 250 μM Ni with or without different treatments of ABA. Exposed to Ni (250 μM) caused adverse effect on growth of wheat seedlings, which was accompanied by increased the concentrations of superoxide anion（O2−） and malondialdehyde (MDA). However, exogenous application of ABA (2.5 and 5 μM) alleviated the Ni-induced inhibition of plant growth, decreased the concentrations of O2− and MDA in wheat shoots. Further, application of ABA significantly modulated the activities of antioxidant enzymes and enhanced content of proline and soluble sugar in Ni-stressed wheats, but the application of 20 μM of ABA had no different significantly response for these parameters. The results indicated that application of ABA enhanced the antioxidant defense activities in Ni-stressed wheats, thus alleviating Ni-induced oxidative injury and enhancing Ni tolerance.
Highlights
Nickel is a essential plant minerals which is required by plants in order to maintain healthy growth and development but it become extremely toxic in higher concentrations
2.1 Plant growth and treatment Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seeds were surfacesterilized with 1 % (w/v) NaClO for 10 min and rinsed thoroughly several times with sterile distilled water, the seeds were soaked in distilled water for 8 h, the seeds were placed into petri dishes containing three layers gauze moistened with distilled water and germinated for 3 d at 25 °C under dark conditions
The presence of 250 and 500 μM Ni significantly reduced the lengths of root and shoot in wheat seedlings
Summary
Nickel is a essential plant minerals which is required by plants in order to maintain healthy growth and development but it become extremely toxic in higher concentrations. The accumulation of Ni in plants can cause numerous morphological and physiological changes. A high concentrations of Ni causes plant growth retardation, chlorosis and wilting [1]. Excess Ni results in an inhibition of chlorophyll synthesis [2], damage to photosynthetic electron transport chain [3], induction of oxidative stress [4], and changes in enzyme activity [5]. Ni promotes the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) causing lipid peroxidation and metabolism imbalance. Plants possess antioxidant systems to scavenge reactive ROS by increasing the activities of key enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and ascorbic acid [6]
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