Quantification Of Phytochelatins Research Articles

Selenium Modulates Growth and Thiol Metabolism in Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) during Arsenic Stress

Arsenic affects plants by disrupting their growth and metabolism while selenium, an essential micronutrient has beneficial role in stress tolerance. Owing to the antioxidative capacity of selenium, it can counteract detrimental effects of arsenic induced stress in plants. The interactive influence of arsenate and selenate on the growth, arsenic and selenium accumulation, activities of non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants, levels of ascorbate, α-tocopherol, total glutathione and activities of glutathione regulatory enzymes along with characterization and quantification of phytochelatins in growing wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings were investigated. Rate of arsenic accumulation was increased in arsenate treated seedlings while in seedlings treated jointly with arsenate and selenate, arsenic accumulation decreased. Arsenate stress resulted decrease in ascorbate and total glutathione contents, activities of the glutathione metabolism enzymes while significantly increased the levels of α-tocopherol and phytochelatins (PC2 and PC4), along with activities of ascorbate peroxidase and ascorbic acid oxidase in the test seedlings. The effects were more pronounced in roots than in shoots. Joint application of arsenate along with selenate was able to overcome the adverse effects caused by arsenic alone to variable extents by exhibiting significant alterations of all parameters tested, imparting better growth and thiol metabolism in the test seedlings. Our results conclude that application of selenium fertilizer in arsenic contaminated soil might be favourable to improve growth and defense ability in wheat against arsenic toxicity.

Characterization of the phytochelatins and their derivatives in rice exposed to cadmium based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with data-dependent hybrid linear ion trap orbitrap mass spectrometry.

The identification and quantification of phytochelatins (PCs) and their derivatives are important to understand their roles in plant growth and development. A method couplling high-performance liquid chromatography with hybrid linear ion trap Orbitrap mass spectrometry (HPLC-LTQ/Orbitrap) was developed to screen PCs that have the same characteristic product ions. This approach was used for the fragmentation pattern analysis of glutathione (GSH) and PC standards, which allowed identification of the fragmentation pathways of their derivatives isolated from rice roots, stems and leaves. In this study, we developed a method to detect and identify PCs and their derivatives in rice based on HPLC/LTQ-Orbitrap. Spectrum interpretation and MS/MS fragmentation patterns of PCs provide sufficient information to discover the novel PC derivatives. This approach includes precursor ion scan and product ion scan to detect and character the novel PC derivatives. Based on HCD-MS/MS fragmentation patterns, four PCs and 18 PC derivatives were identified. Among them, seven PC derivatives, i.e., iso-PC2 (Asn), iso-PC3 (Asn), iso-PC2 (Cys), des-γGlu-iso-PC3 (Ser), des-Cys-iso-PC2 (Glu), des-Cys-iso-PC3 (Glu) and des-Cys-iso-PC4 (Glu), have not been previously reported. This method was validated by profiling GSH, PCs and PC derivatives in rice. Preliminary results revealed that PCs and their derivatives, except GSH, are markedly induced by Cd treatment. The HPLC/LTQ-Orbitrap method was successfully developed for the identification of PCs and their derivatives. The C-terminal linked to Gly is replaced with Glu, Ser, Asn, Gln or Cys, thereby creating a family of chemicals that share several structural properties. This technique could be particularly useful for investigators studying plant metabolomics. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Identification and quantification of phytochelatins in roots of rice to long-term exposure: evidence of individual role on arsenic accumulation and translocation

Rice has the predilection to take up arsenic in the form of methylated arsenic (o-As) and inorganic arsenic species (i-As). Plants defend themselves using i-As efflux systems and the production of phytochelatins (PCs) to complex i-As. Our study focused on the identification and quantification of phytochelatins by HPLC-ICP-MS/ESI-MS, relating them to the several variables linked to As exposure. GSH, 11 PCs, and As-PC complexes from the roots of six rice cultivars (Italica Carolina, Dom Sofid, 9524, Kitrana 508, YRL-1, and Lemont) exposed to low and high levels of i-As were compared with total, i-As, and o-As in roots, shoots, and grains. Only Dom Sofid, Kitrana 508, and 9524 were found to produce higher levels of PCs even when exposed to low levels of As. PCs were only correlated to i-As in the roots (r=0.884, P <0.001). However, significant negative correlations to As transfer factors (TF) roots-grains (r= -0.739, P <0.05) and shoots-grains (r= -0.541, P <0.05), suggested that these peptides help in trapping i-As but not o-As in the roots, reducing grains' i-As. Italica Carolina reduced i-As in grains after high exposure, where some specific PCs had a special role in this reduction. In Lemont, exposure to elevated levels of i-As did not result in higher i-As levels in the grains and there were no significant increases in PCs or thiols. Finally, the high production of PCs in Kitrana 508 and Dom Sofid in response to high As treatment did not relate to a reduction of i-As in grains, suggesting that other mechanisms such as As-PC release and transport seems to be important in determining grain As in these cultivars.

Quantification of phytochelatins and their metal(loid) complexes: critical assessment of current analytical methodology

Whilst there are a variety of methods available for the quantification of biothiols in sample extracts, each has their own inherent advantages and limitations. The ease with which thiols readily oxidise not only hinders their quantification but also alters the speciation profile. The challenge faced by the analyst is not only to preserve the speciation of the sample, but also to select a method which allows the retrieval of the desired information. Given that sulfur is not a chromophore and that it cannot easily be monitored by ICP-MS, a number of direct and indirect methods have been developed for this purpose. In order to assess these methods, they are compared in the context of the measurement of arsenic-phytochelatin complexes in plant extracts. The inherent instability of such complexes, along with the instabilities of reduced glutathione and phytochelatin species,necessitates a rapid and sensitive analytical protocol. Whilst being a specific example, the points raised and discussed in this review will also be applicable to the quantification of biothiols and thiol-metal(loid) species in a wide range of systems other than just the analysis of arsenic-phytochelatin species in plant extracts.

Quantification of phytochelatins in plants by reversed-phase HPLC–ESI–MS–MS

An on-line HPLC-ESI-MS-MS method has been developed for determination of glutathione and phytochelatins (PC) in plant tissues. For sample pretreatment, dithiothreitol (DTT) must be added at the very beginning, as an anti-oxidant. Optimization of instrumental conditions i.e. composition of HPLC mobile phase, ionization efficiency of the electrospray interface, and MS-MS detection in the multiple ion-monitoring mode, are the central aspects of this work. A polystyrene-packed column was found to be superior to a standard silica-packed reversed-phase column. A concave quadratic gradient of ammonium formate buffer and acetonitrile was found to be optimum. The limits of quantitation were 0.2 micromol kg(-1) plant tissue for glutathione and PC. The method has been applied to analysis of tissue samples from Vicia faba grown in Cd-containing nutrient solutions.