Journal of Plant Molecular Breeding

Exogenous hydrogen peroxide enhances the response of corn (Zea mays L.) plants to drought stress

Document Type : Original research paper

Authors

1 Agronomy Department, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.

2 Molecular and Genetics Department, Genetics and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute of Tabrestan, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural resources university, Sari, Iran.

3 Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Animal Science and Fisheries, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran.

Abstract

Drought stress is a significant factor limiting crop growth and production. In this experiment, the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) application on water-stressed corn plants was investigated using various biochemical and molecular methods. Corn seedlings grown in hydroponic culture were treated with 2 mM H2O2 and subsequently exposed to water stress using polyethylene glycol 6000 at three levels: 0, -2 bar, and -4 bar. The results showed that drought stress significantly altered all of the studied traits. With an increase in stress levels, the activity of the catalase enzyme was decreased, and the highest drop, 50%, occurred eight days after stress. It was revealed that catalase activity increased by up to 18% on the second day after the stress, but it decreased significantly over time. The indigenous accumulation of H2O2 increased significantly in the -4 bar treatment four days after stress, while it was reduced by 50% on the eighth day post-stress. It was revealed that H2O2 application increased PAO gene expression 1.7 fold compared to the control plants. Its expression was decreased by 35% at -4 bar in control plants, while H2O2 treatment increased its expression by 2.8 times. These results indicate that H2O2 application enhanced tolerance to drought stress in corn plants.

Keywords

Abdel Latef, A.A.H., Kordrostami, M., Zakir, A., Zaki, H., and Saleh, O.M. (2019). Eustress with H2O2 facilitates plant growth by improving tolerance to salt stress in two wheat cultivars. Plants 8(9): 303. doi: 10.3390/plants8090303.
Aebi, H. (1984). "Catalase in vitro," in Methods Enzymol.  (Netherlands: Elsevier), 121-126.
Agarwal, S., and Pandey, V. (2004). Antioxidant enzyme responses to NaCl stress in Cassia angustifolia. Biol Plant 48(4): 555-560.
Ahmed, M.T., Abdullah, H., and Kuo, D.-H. (2022). Highly efficient photocatalytic H2O2 generation over dysprosium oxide-integrated g-C3N4 nanosheets with nitrogen deficiency. Chemosphere 307: 135910.
Alam, M.N., Bristi, N.J., and Rafiquzzaman, M. (2013). Review on in vivo and in vitro methods evaluation of antioxidant activity. Saudi Pharm J 21(2): 143-152. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2012.05.002.
Alexieva, V., Sergiev, I., Mapelli, S., and Karanov, E. (2001). The effect of drought and ultraviolet radiation on growth and stress markers in pea and wheat. Plant Cell Environ 24(12): 1337-1344.
Anjum, N.A., Gill, S.S., Corpas, F.J., Ortega-Villasante, C., Hernandez, L.E., Tuteja, N., Sofo, A., Hasanuzzaman, M., and Fujita, M. (2022). Recent insights into the double role of hydrogen peroxide in plants. Front Plant Sci 13: 843274.
Banerjee, A., and Roychoudhury, A. (2019). "Abiotic stress tolerance in plants by priming and pretreatment with hydrogen peroxide," in Priming and Pretreatment of Seeds and Seedlings: Implication in Plant Stress Tolerance and Enhancing Productivity in Crop Plants.  (Singapore: Springer), 417-426.
Barzegargolchini, B., Movafeghi, A., Dehestani, A., and Mehrabanjoubani, P. (2017). Morphological and anatomical changes in stems of Aeluropus littoralis under salt stress. J Plant Mol Breed 5(1): 40-48.
Bergmayer, H. (1983). "UV method of catalase assay," in Methods of enzymatic analysis.  (Florida: Bansal), 273.
Blasco, B., Leyva, R., Romero, L., and Ruiz, J.M. (2013). Iodine effects on phenolic metabolism in lettuce plants under salt stress. J Agric Food Chem 61(11): 2591-2596. doi: 10.1021/jf303917n.
Cavalcanti, F.R., Oliveira, J.T.A., Martins‐Miranda, A.S., Viégas, R.A., and Silveira, J.A.G. (2004). Superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase activities do not confer protection against oxidative damage in salt-stressed cowpea leaves. New Phytol 163(3): 563-571.
Chen, D., Wang, S., Cao, B., Cao, D., Leng, G., Li, H., Yin, L., Shan, L., and Deng, X. (2015). Genotypic variation in growth and physiological response to drought stress and re-watering reveals the critical role of recovery in drought adaptation in maize seedlings. Front Plant Sci 6: 1241. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2015.01241.
Dehestani, A., Ahmadian, G., Salmanian, A., Jelodar, N., and Kazemitabar, K. (2010). Transformation efficiency enhancement of Arabidopsis vacuum infiltration by surfactant application and apical inflorescence removal. Trakia J Sci 8(1): 19-26.
Desoky, E.M., Mansour, E., El-Sobky, E.E.A., Abdul-Hamid, M.I., Taha, T.F., Elakkad, H.A., Arnaout, S., Eid, R.S.M., El-Tarabily, K.A., and Yasin, M.A.T. (2021). Physio-biochemical and agronomic responses of faba beans to exogenously applied nano-silicon under drought stress conditions. Front Plant Sci 12: 637783. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.637783.
Dikilitas, M., Simsek, E., and Roychoudhury, A. (2020). "Modulation of abiotic stress tolerance through hydrogen peroxide," in Protective chemical agents in the amelioration of plant abiotic stress: biochemical and molecular perspectives.  (United States: Wiley), 147-173.
Dolatabadi, B., Ranjbar, G., Tohidfar, M., and Dehestani, A. (2014). Genetic transformation of Tomato with three pathogenesis-related protein genes for increased resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. J Plant Mol Breed 2(1): 1-11.
Ebeed, H.T., Hassan, N.M., and Aljarani, A.M. (2017). Exogenous applications of polyamines modulate drought responses in wheat through osmolytes accumulation, increasing free polyamine levels and regulation of polyamine biosynthetic genes. Plant Physiol Biochem 118: 438-448.
Farooq, M., Wahid, A., Kobayashi, N., Fujita, D., and Basra, S. (2009). Plant drought stress: effects, mechanisms and management. Sustain Agric: 153-188.
Flores, H.E., and Filner, P. (1985). "Polyamine catabolism in higher plants: characterization of pyrroline dehydrogenase," in Polyamines in Plants.  (Dordrecht: Springer), 75-89.
Gonçalves, K.S., Paz, V.P.d.S., Silva, F.d.L., Hongyu, K., and Almeida, W.F.d. (2019). Potassium phosphite and water deficit: physiological response of Eucalyptus using multivariate analysis. J Agric Sci 11(3): 565.
Guler, N.S., and Pehlivan, N. (2016). Exogenous low-dose hydrogen peroxide enhances drought tolerance of soybean (Glycine max L.) through inducing antioxidant system. Acta Biol Hung 67: 169-183.
Halliwell, B., and Gutteridge, J.M. (2015). Free radicals in biology and medicine. Oxford university press, USA.
Hameed, A., Goher, M., and Iqbal, N. (2013). Drought induced programmed cell death and associated changes in antioxidants, proteases, and lipid peroxidation in wheat leaves. Biol Plant 57(2): 370-374.
He, L., and Gao, Z. (2009). Pretreatment of seed with H2O2 enhances drought tolerance of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings. Afr J Biotechnol 8(22).
Hussain, H.A., Hussain, S., Khaliq, A., Ashraf, U., Anjum, S.A., Men, S., and Wang, L. (2018). Chilling and drought stresses in crop plants: implications, cross talk, and potential management opportunities. Front Plant Sci 9: 393. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00393.
Ishibashi, Y., Yamaguchi, H., Yuasa, T., Iwaya-Inoue, M., Arima, S., and Zheng, S.H. (2011). Hydrogen peroxide spraying alleviates drought stress in soybean plants. J Plant Physiol 168(13): 1562-1567. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2011.02.003.
Kiani, R., Arzani, A., and Mirmohammady Maibody, S. (2021). Polyphenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity involved in salt tolerance in wheat, Aegilops cylindrica and their amphidiploids. Front Plant Sci 12: 646221. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.646221.
Li, Z., Peng, Y., Zhang, X.Q., Ma, X., Huang, L.K., and Yan, Y.H. (2014). Exogenous spermidine improves seed germination of white clover under water stress via involvement in starch metabolism, antioxidant defenses and relevant gene expression. Molecules 19(11): 18003-18024. doi: 10.3390/molecules191118003.
Liu, J., Nakajima, I., and Moriguchi, T. (2011). Effects of salt and osmotic stresses on free polyamine content and expression of polyamine biosynthetic genes in Vitis vinifera. Biol Plant 55: 340-344.
Mahdavian, M., Sarikhani, H., Hadadinejad, M., and Dehestani, A. (2021). Exogenous application of putrescine positively enhances the drought stress response in two citrus rootstocks by increasing expression of stress-related genes. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 21(3): 1934-1948.
Maiti, R.K., and Satya, P. (2014). Research advances in major cereal crops for adaptation to abiotic stresses. GM Crops Food 5(4): 259-279. doi: 10.4161/21645698.2014.947861.
Mittler, R. (2002). Oxidative stress, antioxidants and stress tolerance. Trends Plant Sci 7(9): 405-410. doi: 10.1016/s1360-1385(02)02312-9.
Mittler, R. (2006). Abiotic stress, the field environment and stress combination. Trends Plant Sci 11(1): 15-19. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2005.11.002.
Moradi, N., Rahimian, H., Dehestani, A., and Babaeizad, V. (2016). Cucumber Response to Sphaerotheca fuliginea: Differences in antioxidant enzymes activity and pathogenesis-related gene expression in susceptible and resistant genotypes. J Plant Mol Breed 4(2): 33-40.
Pal, M., Szalai, G., and Janda, T. (2015). Speculation: Polyamines are important in abiotic stress signaling. Plant Sci 237: 16-23. doi: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2015.05.003.
Ramezani, M., Rahmani, F., and Dehestani, A. (2017). Comparison between the effects of potassium phosphite and chitosan on changes in the concentration of Cucurbitacin E and on antibacterial property of Cucumis sativus. BMC Complement Altern Med 17(1): 1-6.
Rukmini, M., D'souza, B., and D'souza, V. (2004). Superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and their correlation with malondialdehyde in schizophrenic patients. Indian J Clin Biochem 19: 114-118.
Sehar, Z., Jahan, B., Masood, A., Anjum, N.A., and Khan, N.A. (2021). Hydrogen peroxide potentiates defense system in presence of sulfur to protect chloroplast damage and photosynthesis of wheat under drought stress. Physiol Plant 172(2): 922-934. doi: 10.1111/ppl.13225.
Singh, V.P., Tripathi, D.K., and Fotopoulos, V. (2020). Hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide signal integration and plant development under stressed/non-stressed conditions. Physiol Plant 168(2): 239-240. doi: 10.1111/ppl.13066.
Singleton, V.L., and Rossi, J.A. (1965). Colorimetry of total phenolics with phosphomolybdic-phosphotungstic acid reagents. American journal of Enology and Viticulture 16(3): 144-158.
Smirnoff, N., and Arnaud, D. (2019). Hydrogen peroxide metabolism and functions in plants. New Phytol 221(3): 1197-1214. doi: 10.1111/nph.15488.
Soleimani, M., Arzani, A., Arzani, V., and Roberts, T.H. (2022). Phenolic compounds and antimicrobial properties of mint and thyme. J Herb Med: 100604. doi: 10.1016/j.hermed.2022.100604.
Wang, J., Sun, P.P., Chen, C.L., Wang, Y., Fu, X.Z., and Liu, J.H. (2011). An arginine decarboxylase gene PtADC from Poncirus trifoliata confers abiotic stress tolerance and promotes primary root growth in Arabidopsis. J Exp Bot 62(8): 2899-2914. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erq463.
Wang, X., Wang, L., Wang, Y., Liu, H., Hu, D., Zhang, N., Zhang, S., Cao, H., Cao, Q., and Zhang, Z. (2018). Arabidopsis PCaP2 plays an important role in chilling tolerance and ABA response by activating CBF-and SnRK2-mediated transcriptional regulatory network. Front Plant Sci 9: 215.
Journal of Plant Molecular Breeding
Volume 10, Issue 1
June 2022
Pages 60-73
  • Receive Date: 17 January 2023
  • Revise Date: 19 February 2023
  • Accept Date: 19 February 2023
  • First Publish Date: 19 February 2023