TY - JOUR
T1 - Enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant responses of young tomato plants (cv. micro-tom) to single and combined mild nitrogen and water deficit
T2 - not the sum of the parts
AU - Machado, Joana
AU - Vasconcelos, Marta W.
AU - Soares, Cristiano
AU - Fidalgo, Fernanda
AU - Heuvelink, Ep
AU - Carvalho, Susana M. P.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for funding J.M.’s PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/116147/2016). This research was also supported by national funds through FCT within the scope of UIDB/05748/2020, UIDP/05748/2020, UIDB/50016/2020 2020 and Norte2020 (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000041).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/2/4
Y1 - 2023/2/4
N2 - This study aims to perform a broad analysis of the antioxidant (AOX) responses of young tomato plants exposed to single and combined mild nitrogen (N) and water deficits through the evaluation of oxidative biomarkers, non-enzymatic and enzymatic AOX components. ‘Micro-Tom’ seedlings were subjected to four treatments: control (CTR; 100%N + 100%W), N deficit (N; 50%N), water deficit (W; 50%W), and combined deficits (N + W; 50%N + 50%W). An enhancement of several non-enzymatic and enzymatic components was found in plants subjected to N + W deficit, which presented higher anthocyanins accumulation (up to 103%) as well as higher levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) transcripts at root level and of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) transcripts at shoot level. This increase in the gene expression was also translated in augmented SOD (up to 202%), APX (up to 155%) and CAT (up to 108%) activity compared to CTR plants and the single deficits. Overall, tomato plants were able to employ defense strategies to cope with this combined deficit, as demonstrated by the higher total AOX capacity (up to 87%) compared to the single deficits, which contributed to the maintenance of their redox homeostasis, with unchanged values of lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide compared with CTR plants.
AB - This study aims to perform a broad analysis of the antioxidant (AOX) responses of young tomato plants exposed to single and combined mild nitrogen (N) and water deficits through the evaluation of oxidative biomarkers, non-enzymatic and enzymatic AOX components. ‘Micro-Tom’ seedlings were subjected to four treatments: control (CTR; 100%N + 100%W), N deficit (N; 50%N), water deficit (W; 50%W), and combined deficits (N + W; 50%N + 50%W). An enhancement of several non-enzymatic and enzymatic components was found in plants subjected to N + W deficit, which presented higher anthocyanins accumulation (up to 103%) as well as higher levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) transcripts at root level and of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) transcripts at shoot level. This increase in the gene expression was also translated in augmented SOD (up to 202%), APX (up to 155%) and CAT (up to 108%) activity compared to CTR plants and the single deficits. Overall, tomato plants were able to employ defense strategies to cope with this combined deficit, as demonstrated by the higher total AOX capacity (up to 87%) compared to the single deficits, which contributed to the maintenance of their redox homeostasis, with unchanged values of lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide compared with CTR plants.
KW - Combined abiotic stresses
KW - Enzymatic components
KW - Micro-tom cv
KW - Non-enzymatic components
KW - Oxidative stress biomarkers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149214621&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/antiox12020375
DO - 10.3390/antiox12020375
M3 - Article
C2 - 36829934
AN - SCOPUS:85149214621
SN - 2076-3921
VL - 12
JO - Antioxidants
JF - Antioxidants
IS - 2
M1 - 375
ER -