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Pretreatment with salicylic acid and ascorbic acid significantly mitigate oxidative stress induced by copper in cotton genotypes

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Abstract

Higher uptake and translocation of copper (Cu) into plant tissues can cause serious physiological and biochemical alterations in root and leaf tissues of plants. The present study investigates the ameliorative role of salicylic acid (SA) and ascorbic acid (AsA) against Cu-induced toxicity changes in cotton genotypes (two parental lines (J208, Z905) and their hybrid line (ZD14)). To study the tolerance potential against Cu (100 μM) stress, 2-week-old cotton seedlings were pretreated with 100 μM either SA or AsA for three days. Elevated Cu concentration in nutrient media increased Cu accumulation in roots and shoots of all the three cotton genotypes studied. Roots were the main Cu storage site, followed by leaves and stems. Increased cellular Cu concentration significantly inhibited the root and shoot development, although leaf growth was more sensitive toward Cu toxicity. Cu-induced oxidative stress to cotton leaves was evident from significantly increased hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents and lipid membrane damage. Increasing Cu translocation toward cotton leaves strongly influenced the malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, which, in turn, inhibited biomass production. SA and AsA pretreated cotton seedlings showed better growth under Cu stress. Despite increase in overall Cu uptake, the SA-pretreated seedlings could defy Cu toxicity through inhibited Cu translocation and modification in the activities of antioxidative enzymes. Whereas, tolerance to Cu-induced toxicity in AsA pretreated plants was associated with Cu exclusion from tissues and reduction of the overall Cu uptake. The present study revealed that the alleviatory role of AsA was significantly higher than SA regarding Cu stress in our experimental cotton genotypes. Furthermore, the hybrid cotton genotype (ZD14) performed well followed by J208 and Z905 in the present experimental setup.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production, P.R. China.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Institute of Crop Science, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

      Lei Mei, M. K. Daud, Najeeb Ullah, Shafaqat Ali, Mumtaz Khan & S. J. Zhu

    2. Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, 26000, Pakistan

      M. K. Daud

    3. Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2015, Australia

      Najeeb Ullah

    4. Department of Environmental Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan

      Shafaqat Ali

    5. Department of Soil Science, College of Environment and Resource Sciences, Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

      Zaffar Malik

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    1. Lei Mei
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    2. M. K. Daud
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    Correspondence to M. K. Daud or S. J. Zhu.

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    Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

    Lei Mei and M. K. Daud contributed equally to the present work.

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    Mei, L., Daud, M.K., Ullah, N. et al. Pretreatment with salicylic acid and ascorbic acid significantly mitigate oxidative stress induced by copper in cotton genotypes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 9922–9931 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4075-9

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4075-9

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