Abstract
Soil pH, either low (acidity) or high (alkalinity), is one of the major constraints that affect many biochemical and biological processes within the cell. The present study was carried out to understand the oxidative damage and antioxidant defense in wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. BARI Gom-25) grown under different pH regimes. Eight-day-old seedlings were exposed to growing media with different pH levels (4.0, 5.5, 7.0, and 8.5). Seedlings grown in pH 4.0 and in pH 8.5 showed reductions in biomass, water, and chlorophyll contents; whereas plants grown at pH 7.0 (neutral) exhibited a better performance. Extremely acidic (pH 4.0) and/or strongly alkaline (pH 8.5)-stress also increased oxidative damage in wheat by excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and methylglyoxal (MG) production, which increased lipid peroxidation and disrupted the redox state. In contrary, the lowest oxidative damage was observed at a neutral condition, followed by a strong acidic condition (pH 5.5), which was mainly attributed to the better performance of the antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems. Interestingly, seedlings grown at pH 5.5 showed a significant increase in morphophysiological attributes compared with extreme acidic (pH 4.0)- and strong alkaline (pH 8.5)-stress treatments, which indicates the tolerance of wheat to the acidic condition.
Highlights
Abiotic stresses hamper crop production and challenge farmers to grow food for the enormous world community, which will reach 10.9 billion by 2050 [1]
We found reduced Relative Water Content (RWC) in the leaf tissue of wheat seedlings due to extreme pH, both acidity and alkalinity, which might be attributed to the reduced root length due to the alteration in growing media pH, which subsequently caused water unavailability in the growing shoot, and induced artificial drought to the plants
Apart from the optimal pH, when plants were exposed to extreme pH conditions, higher H2 O2 and MG production created subsequent oxidative stress, produced MDA together with enhanced LOX
Summary
Abiotic stresses hamper crop production and challenge farmers to grow food for the enormous world community, which will reach 10.9 billion by 2050 [1]. Extreme pH, both acidity and alkalinity, covers about 60 percent of the global land surface, with spatial variability [2]. Soil pH is the indicator used to describe the acidity or alkalinity of the soils. USDA [3], proposed nine soil classes based on pH: ultra acidic (pH < 3.5), extremely acidic (3.5–4.4), very strongly acidic (4.5–5.0), strongly acidic (5.1–5.5), moderately acidic (5.6–6.0), slightly acidic (6.1–6.5), neutral (6.6–7.3), slightly alkaline (7.4–7.8), moderately alkaline (7.9–8.4), strongly. Plants 2019, 8, 24 alkaline (8.5–9.0), and very strongly alkaline (>9.0). Some plants prefer pH 4.0 to 5.5 (e.g., potato, rye, blueberry, cranberry), some grow better at pH 5.5 to 6.5 (e.g., barley, rice, carrot, eggplant, cauliflower), some prefer pH 6.0 to
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