Enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant responses of young tomato plants (cv. micro-tom) to single and combined mild nitrogen and water deficit: not the sum of the parts

Joana Machado, Marta W. Vasconcelos, Cristiano Soares, Fernanda Fidalgo, Ep Heuvelink, Susana M. P. Carvalho*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number375
Number of pages17
JournalAntioxidants
Volume12
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Feb 2023

Keywords

  • Combined abiotic stresses
  • Enzymatic components
  • Micro-tom cv
  • Non-enzymatic components
  • Oxidative stress biomarkers

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