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Explicating physiological and biochemical responses of wheat cultivars under acidity stress: insight into the antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems

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Abstract

Soil acidity causes proton (H+) rhizotoxicity, inhibits plant growth and development, and is a major yield-limiting factor for wheat production worldwide. Therefore, we investigated the physiological and biochemical responses of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to acidity stress in vitro. Five popular wheat cultivars developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), namely, BARI Gom-21, BARI Gom-24, BARI Gom-25, BARI Gom-26, and BARI Gom-30, were studied in growing media under four different pH levels (3.5, 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5). We evaluated the cultivars based on their relative water content, proline (Pro) content, growth, biomass accumulation, oxidative damage, membrane stability, and mineral composition, as well as the performance of the antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems. Although decrements of pH significantly reduced the tested morphophysiological and biochemical attributes in all the cultivars, there was high variability among the cultivars in response to the varying pH of the growing media. Acidity stress reduced growth, biomass, water content, and chlorophyll content in all the cultivars. However, BARI Gom-26 showed the least damage, with the lowest H2O2 generation, lipid peroxidation (MDA), and greater membrane stability, which indicate better tolerance against oxidative damage. In addition, the antioxidant defense components, ascorbate (AsA) and glutathione (GSH), and their redox balance were higher in this cultivar. Maximum H2O2 scavenging due to upregulation of the antioxidant enzymes [AsA peroxidase (APX), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), GSH reductase (GR), GSH peroxidase (GPX), and GSH-S-transferase (GST)] was observed in BARI Gom-26, which also illustrated significant enhancement of methylglyoxal (MG) detoxification by upregulating glyoxalase I (Gly I) and glyoxalase II (Gly II). This study also showed that balanced essential nutrient content as well as lower toxic micronutrient content was found in BARI Gom-26. Therefore, considering the physiological and biochemical attributes and growth, we conclude that BARI Gom-26 can withstand acidity stress during the early seedling stage, by regulating the coordinated action of the antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems as well as maintaining nutrient balance.

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Acknowledgement

This research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan. We thank Dr. Akinari Sonoda and Dr. Yoji Makita, Health Environment Control Research group, Health Research Institute, Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan, for their kind support in analyzing the mineral contents. Thanks to Asst. Professor Khursheda Parvin and Asst. Professor Sayed Mohammad Mohsin, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University for their critical review and comments regarding manuscript preparation. We also acknowledge Abdul Awal Chowdhury Masud and Md. Shahadat Hossen, Laboratory of Plant Stress Response, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Japan, for their kind assistance conducting the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Stress Responses, Department of Applied Biological Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki-Cho, Kita-Gun, Kagawa, 761-0795, Japan

    M. H. M. Borhannuddin Bhuyan, Md. Shahadat Hossain, Mazhar Ul Alam & Masayuki Fujita

  2. Citrus Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Jaintapur, Sylhet, Bangladesh

    M. H. M. Borhannuddin Bhuyan

  3. Department of Agronomy, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, 1207, Bangladesh

    Mirza Hasanuzzaman

  4. Department of Agroforestry and Environmental Science, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, 1207, Bangladesh

    Jubayer Al Mahmud

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  1. M. H. M. Borhannuddin Bhuyan
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  4. Md. Shahadat Hossain
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Contributions

MHMBB conceived, designed, and performed the experiment and prepared the manuscript. MSH, JAM and MUA actively participated in executing the experiment. MH designed the experiment, analyzed the data and edited the manuscript. MF conceived, designed, and monitored the experiment. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Masayuki Fujita.

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Bhuyan, M.H.M.B., Hasanuzzaman, M., Mahmud, J.A. et al. Explicating physiological and biochemical responses of wheat cultivars under acidity stress: insight into the antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems. Physiol Mol Biol Plants 25, 865–879 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-019-00678-0

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